Mountain range, especially those in the tropics and in more temperate regions, are regarded as particularly important drivers of plant evolutionary divergence and speciation. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) together with adjacent regions in western China is a complex mountain system that shows large altitudinal changes and heterogeneous ecological environments. Recently, researchers in the Conservation Genetics Research Group of the South China Botanical garden (SCBG) and Wuhan Botanical Garden (WBG), CAS have jointly studied the phylogeographical pattern of Myricaria plants in the mountain region to detect the effects of geology and climate on its evolution. As a result, it is notable that the main genetic divergence of Myricaria species occurred between the Late Tertiary and Early Quaternary and was predominantly driven by the recent rapid uplifting of mountains in the QTP region while local survival-expansion in response to alpine glaciers in the Quaternary has also contributed to genetic isolation and endemic species formation over different regions scales. The independent origin of M. laxiflora in the Three Gorges mountain ranges was also highlighted and approached a conclusion that the unique phylogeographical history of a relatively ancient origin but recent demographical expansion of this plant was strongly driven by the geological events that changed the topography and watercourse flow in the Three Gorges valleys and/or climatic effects within the Three Gorges mountain ranges. 

This study was commonly conducted by Dr LIU Yifei (SCBG) and Dr WANG Yong  (WBG) under the advisor of Pro HUANG Hongwen (SCBG). The results of this study have been published in the journal Molecular Ecology (2009, vol. 18, p2700-2712) recently and it provides a useful reference to contribute understanding the general biogeographical history for the evolution of species in mountain ranges of western China.