Phylogeography of Spiraea alpina (Rosaceae) in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau inferred from chloroplast DNA sequence variations

The aim of the present study was to investigate the phylogeographic patterns of Spiraea alpina (Rosaceae) and clarify its response to past climatic changes in the climate-sensitive Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We sequenced a chloroplast DNA fragment (trnLtrnF) from 528 individuals representing 43 populations. We identified 10 haplotypes, which were tentatively divided into three groups. These haplotypes or groups were distributed in the different regions of the QTP. Only half the populations were fixed by a single haplotype, whereas the others contained two or more. In the central and eastern regions, adjacent populations at the local scale shared the same haplotype. Our phylogeographic analyses suggest that this alpine shrub survived in multiple refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum and that earlier glaciations may have trigged deep intraspecific divergences. Post-glacial expansions occurred only within populations or across multiple populations within a local range. The findings of the present study together with previous phylogeographic reports suggest that evolutionary histories of plants in the QTP are complex and variable depending on the species investigated.