New paper in Journal of Biogeography!
We investigated the population structure of two foliar fungal endophyte species, Lophodermium fissuratum and L. nitens, across a north–south gradient in the Pacific Northwest to test whether glacial history shaped their biogeography. Using ddRADSeq and demographic modeling, we found that both species diverged prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, but differed in timing, gene flow, and levels of isolation. L. fissuratum exhibited stronger north–south structure and remained isolated, while L. nitens showed evidence of more recent divergence and secondary contact. Our findings extend the Soltis Line, a known phylogeographic boundary, to include fungal endophytes, revealing that even closely related fungi with shared hosts can have distinct evolutionary histories.
