Reconstructing South African Afromontane forest history with bryophyte phylogeography

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-54). === Forests occur as fragmented patches throughout Africa, however the basis for the disjunction of afromontane forests remains uncertain. The genetic structure of organisms should reflect their hi story, and in turn the history of their environmen...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McGrath, Katherine M
Other Authors: Hedderson, Terry A
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6134
Description
Summary:Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-54). === Forests occur as fragmented patches throughout Africa, however the basis for the disjunction of afromontane forests remains uncertain. The genetic structure of organisms should reflect their hi story, and in turn the history of their environment. Thus a phylogeographical study of forest-faithful mosses could provide insight into the fragmentation of forests. In this study, patterns of genetic variation in four forest-faithful mosses (Leptodon smithii, Pyrrhobryum spiniforme, Aerobryopsis capensis and Neckera valentiniana) were investigated.