Environmental niche variation and evolutionary diversification of the <i>Brachypodium distachyon</i> grass complex species in their native circum‐Mediterranean range

Abstract

Each species had a unique environmental niche though there were multiple niche overlapping areas for the diploids across time, suggesting the potential existence of several hybrid zones during the Pleistocene and the Holocene. No evidence of niche divergence was found, suggesting that species diversification was not driven by ecological speciation but by evolutionary history, though it could be associated to distinct environmental adaptations.