Biogeography of Prunus africana in Afromontane forests

Afromontane forest ecosystems share a high similarity of plant and animal biodiversity, although they occur mainly on isolated mountain massifs throughout the African continent. Kadu et al. use Prunus africana, one of the character trees of the ecosystem, as a model for understanding the biogeography of this vegetation zone and find strong genetic divergence amongst the five main Afromontane regions, which are most likely associated with Pleistocene changes in climatic conditions. Contrasting estimates of recent and historical gene flow indicate a shift of the main barrier to gene flow from the Lake Victoria basin to the Eastern Rift Valley, highlighting the dynamic environmental and evolutionary history of the region.