Spatio-temporal assessment of phylogenetic diversity gradients during the Holocene (past 12,000 years) provides an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of species co-occurrence patterns under environmental fluctuations. Using two robust metrics of phylogenetic dispersion (PD) and 99 fossil pollen sequences containing 6557 samples/assemblages, we analyse spatio-temporal variation in PD of angiosperms and its relationship with Holocene climate in central Asia. Overall, PD throughout the Holocene decreases linearly with increasing latitude, except for a rise in mean nearest taxon distance from ca. 25 to 35° N. This indicates that phylogenetically divergent taxa decrease progressively with increasing latitude, leaving more phylogenetically closely related taxa in the assemblages, thereby increasing phylogenetic relatedness among the co-occurring taxa. The latitudinal gradient of PD has not been consistent during the Holocene, and this temporal variation is concordant with the Holocene climate dynamics. In general, profound temporal changes in the latitudinal PD toward higher latitudes implies that the major environmental changes during the Holocene have driven considerable spatio-temporal changes in the phylogenetic assembly of high-latitude angiosperm assemblages. Our results suggest that environmental filtering and the tendency of taxa and lineages to retain ancestral ecological features and geographic distributions (phylogenetic niche conservatism) are the main mechanisms underlying the phylogenetic assembly of angiosperms along the climate-latitudinal gradient. Ongoing environmental changes may pose future profound phylogenetic changes in high-latitude plant assemblages, which are adapted to harsh environmental conditions, and therefore are phylogenetically less dispersed (more conservative or clustered).

Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research 5020 Bergen Norway

Center for Theoretical Study Charles University Jilská 1 11000 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Biological Sciences University of Bergen PO Box 7803 5020 Bergen Norway

Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Benátská 2 12801 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Geography University of Bergen PO Box 7802 5020 Bergen Norway

Environmental Change Research Centre University College London Gower Street London WC1 6BT UK

Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences University of Tartu J Liivi tn 2 50409 Tartu Estonia

Institute of Geology Tallinn University of Technology Ehitajate tee 5 19086 Tallinn Estonia

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