Parnas, t: Evidence for incipient sympatric speciation in wi

The Evolution Canyon EC Model permits the study of evolution in action in diverse taxa across life from bacteria through fungi, plants & animals employing genomic, proteomic & phenomic studies highlighting speciation & adaptation at a microscale. We studied 4 EC(I-IV) in the Carmel, Galilee, Negev & Golan Mountains. 250 species have been identified at EC Carmel in an area of 7000m. Higher terrestrial species richness was found on the more stressful tropical African slope AS.Aquatic species richness was higher on the milder temperate European slope ES. Microclimatic selection overrides drift & drives both interslope adaptive radiation &incipient sympatric speciation. Preliminary evidence was present in the present study for incipient sympatric speciation in wild barley,the progenitor of all cultivated barley, at EC I. The evidence is based on 40 intraslope & 50 interslope cross breeding.The F1 hybrids obtanied from these crosses were tested for 13 vegetative & reproductive traits.In Crosses confirmed by microsatellites,12 out of 13 traits (92%) showed interslope hybrid inferiority. For substantiation,additional studies are necessary.