A complex geologic history has shaped the distribution of Arizona willow (Salix arizonica Dorn) and the Mogollon paintbrush (Castilleja mogollonica Pennell). These subalpine plants do not appear to be strict substrate specialists, but they do seem to favor coarse-textured and well-watered soils. Most of their occupied habitats were shaped by Quaternary glaciations, but are ultimately derived fr...

Geographic barriers and Quaternary climate changes are two major forces driving the evolution, speciation, and genetic structuring of extant organisms. In this study, we used Pinus armandii and eleven other Asian white pines (subsection Strobus, subgenus Pinus) to explore the influences of geographic factors and Pleistocene climatic oscillations on species in South China, a region known to be c...

BACKGROUND The influence of Pleistocene climatic fluctuations on intraspecific diversification in the Qinling-Daba Mountains of East Asia remains poorly investigated. We tested hypotheses concerning refugia during the last glacial maximum (LGM) in this region by examining the phylogeography of the swelled vent frog (Feirana quadranus; Dicroglossidae, Anura, Amphibia). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FI...

The evolution of the two components of the equatorial mountain torque (EMT) applied by mountains on the atmosphere is analyzed in the NCEP reanalysis. A strong lagged relationship between the EMT component along the Greenwich axis TM1 and the EMT component along the 908E axis TM2 is found, with a pronounced signal on TM1 followed by a signal of opposite sign on TM2. It is shown that this result...