<p>The aim of this thesis is to study phylogeny, species-wide phylogeography and genetic diversity in <i>Formica</i> ants across Eurasia in connection with the history of biotic responses to Quaternary environmental changes.</p><p>The mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of Palaearctic <i>Formica</i> species supported the subgeneric grouping based on morphological similarity. The exception was that <i>F. uralensis</i> formed a separate phylogenetic group. The mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of the <i>F. rufa </i>group showed the division into three major phylogenetic groups: one with the species <i>F. polyctena</i> and <i>F. rufa</i>, one with <i>F. aquilonia</i>, <i>F. lugubris</i> and <i>F. paralugubris</i>, and the third one with <i>F. pratensis</i>.</p><p>West-east phylogeographic divisions were found in <i>F. pratensis</i> suggesting post-glacial colonization of western Europe and a wide area from Sweden to the Baikal Lake from separate forest refugia. In contrast, no phylogeographic divisions were detected in either <i>F. lugubris </i>or<i> F. exsecta</i>. Contraction of the distribution range to a single refugial area during the late Pleistocene and the following population expansion could offer a general explanation for the lack of phylogeographic structure across most of Eurasia in these species.</p><p>Sympatrically distributed and ecologically similar species <i>F. uralensis </i>and<i> F. candida</i> showed clear difference in the phylogeographic structure that reflected difference in their vicariant history. Whereas no phylogeographic divisions were detected in <i>F. uralensis</i> across Europe, <i>F. candida</i> showed a well-supported phylogeographic division between the western, the central and the southern group.</p><p>In socially polymorphic <i>F. cinerea</i>, the overall level of intrapopulation microsatellite diversity was relatively high and differentiation among populations was low, indicating recent historical connections. The lack of correspondence between genetic affinities and geographic locations of studied populations did not provide any evidence for differentiating between alternative hypotheses concerning the directions and sources of postglacial colonization of Fennoscandia.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:uu-3803 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Goropashnaya, Anna |
| Publisher | Uppsala University, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary, text |
| Relation | Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1104-232X ; 912 |
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