title: Population differentiation in mediterranean plants: insights into colonization history and the evolution and conservation of endemic species
abstract: Colonization and isolation are critical events in the evolutionary dynamics of plant populations. In this paper I review how spatial population structure of genetic markers provides insights into the evolutionary significance of episodes of colonization and isolation in the Mediterranean flora. I use as themes to structure my review the following topics: spatial structure induced by historical associations among populations of widespread species; population differentiation in relation to the evolution of closely related species with disjunct distributions; the potential effect of founder events during colonization on character evolution; and the conservation implications of spatial population structure. My review illustrates that the Mediterranean flora is full of examples that provide key insights into such evolutionary and conservation issues.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, C.N.R.S., 1919 Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Thompson