Congruent phylogeographic patterns of eight tree species in Atlantic Central Africa provide insights on the past dynamics of forest cover

Cycles of Quaternary climate change are assumed to be major drivers of African rainforest dynamics and evolution. However, most hypotheses on past vegetation dynamics relied on palaeobotanical records, an approach lacking spatial resolution, and on current patterns of species diversity and endemism, an approach confounding history and environmental determinism. In this context, a comparative phylogeographic study of rainforest species represents a complementary approach because Pleistocene climate fluctuations may have left interpretable signatures in the patterns of genetic diversity within species. Using 1274 plastid DNA sequences from eight tree species (Afrostyrax kamerunensis, A. lepidophyllus, Erythrophleum suaveolens, Greenwayodendron suaveolens, Milicia excelsa, Santiria trimera, Scorodophloeus zenkeri, Symphonia globulifera) sampled in 50 populations of Atlantic Central Africa (ACA), we averaged divergence across species to produce the first map of the region synthesizing genet...