The diversity of <i>Ficus</i>
We argue that the fig itself represents a new niche and explore the implications of sexual and vegetative traits in driving diversification (species richness) and diversity (in the ecological sense). An increasingly stable backbone phylogeny and the availability of genomic nuclear and chloroplast data has shed dappled light upon the deep evolutionary past. Incidences of potential diversification through introgression exist, but we must be cautious as the tools used were not always suitable for revealing ancient hybridization. An asymmetric genetic sampling of figs and wasps has further influenced our concepts of host specificity in the genus. Our comparative approach evaluates classical models of speciation in Ficus, concluding that adaptive radiations on islands have triggered diversification. We should maintain global research networks and sample widely. It is tempting to over generalise results. This leads to misconceptions and missing puzzle pieces. Further, adopting standard protocols ensures connectivity.
Authors
- Simon T. Segar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6621-9409)
- Rodrigo Augusto Santinelo Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7736-4211)
- Finn Kjellberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6708-9538)
- Martin Volf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4126-3897)
- Sotiria Boutsi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6211-1551)
- Astrid Cruaud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8932-4199)
- Jean-Yves Rasplus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3872-6811)
- Derek W. Dunn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5909-1224)
- Daniel Souto‐Vilarós (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8803-5173)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR)
- Universidade de Ribeirão Preto (BR)
- Sewanee: The University of the South (US)
- Université de Montpellier (FR)
- University of Utah (US)
- University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (CZ)
- Northwest University (US)
- Northwest University (CN)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR)
- Institute of Plant Molecular Biology (CZ)
- Institute of Entomology (CZ)
- Institut Agro Montpelier (FR)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre (CZ)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Harper Adams University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Botany
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf280
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Plant and animal studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.03