Phylogeography of California: An Introduction

Phylogeography of California examines the evolution of ancient, recent, native, and migratory taxa to elucidate major and minor evolutionary events that shaped the distribution, radiation, and speciation of the biota of California. This volume also interprets evolutionary history in a geological context and reviews new and emerging phylogeographic patterns.

Schierenbeck provides a survey of the phylogeography of the flora and fauna of California’s diverse biota by major organismal groups and supports scholars and researchers who are asking probing questions about evolutionary diversification in a region defined by both physical and political boundaries. Life history and ecological characteristics, which play prominent roles in the various outcomes for respective clades, are also considered throughout the work.

Readers will appreciate the book’s analysis of research that helps assess one of the major challenges of phylogeographic studies: understanding changes in population structures shaped by geological and geographical processes.

Further consideration is given to conservation implications and recommendations related to the biogeographic provinces that roughly define the state of California, and to predictions related to climate change. California is one of only 25 acknowledged biological hotspots worldwide, and the phylogeographic history of the state can be extrapolated to study other regions in western North America.