The recent availability of open‐access repositories of functional traits has revolutionized trait‐based approaches in ecology and evolution. Nevertheless, the underrepresentation of tropical regions and lineages remains a pervasive bias in plant functional trait databases, which constrains large‐scale assessments of plant ecology, evolution, and biogeography. Here, we present MelastomaTRAITs 1.0, a comprehensive and updatable...

Animal pollinators mediate gene flow among plant populations, but in contrast to well‐studied topographic and (Pleistocene) environmental isolating barriers, their impact on population genetic differentiation remains largely unexplored. Comparing how these multifarious factors drive microevolutionary histories is, however, crucial for better resolving macroevolutionary patterns of plant diversification. Here we combined genomi...

Asexual taxa often have larger ranges than their sexual progenitors, particularly in areas affected by Pleistocene glaciations. The reasons given for this ‘geographical parthenogenesis’ are contentious, with expansion of the ecological niche or colonisation advantages of uniparental reproduction assumed most important in case of plants. Here, we parameterized a spread model for the alpine buttercup Ranunculus kuepferi and reco...

Aim Emerging polyploids may depend on environmental niche shifts for successful establishment. Using the alpine plant Ranunculus kuepferi as a model system, we explore the niche shift hypothesis at different spatial resolutions and in contrasting parts of the species range. Location European Alps. Methods We sampled 12 individuals from each of 102 populations of R. kuepferi across the Alps, determined their ploidy levels, deri...