Evaluating three alternative scenarios for the origin of a disjunct Arctium tomentosum population in the Pyrenees

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Background Disjunctions in species distributions offer natural experiments for investigating the mechanisms underlying distributional breaks, such as range contraction, long-distance pollen transport, or long-distance seed dispersal. Here, we document and characterise a floristic novelty in the Pyrenean and Iberian regions, and use it as a case study to investigate the processes underlying disjunct species distributions. Our analysis focuses on Arctium L. (burdocks), a genus native to Eurasia comprising several cosmopolitan weedy species. It is characterised by hooked capitula that facilitate epizoochorous dispersal. Methods To clarify the taxonomic identity of a previously undocumented Pyrenean population resembling A. tomentosum , we adopted an integrative approach, combining distribution information, morphology, genome size, repetitive DNA analysis and chloroplast data across the four known European species. Additionally, we conducted a comparative study of functional capitulum traits, predispersal fruit predation, and associated entomofauna for the newly discovered population and nearby A. minus populations. Results The discovered population constitutes a floristic novelty for the region and is identified as A. tomentosum , exhibiting signatures of past introgression from A. minus , as indicated by cytonuclear discordance. We evaluated three alternative scenarios to explain its origin: (i) persistence as a relict from a previously wider distribution, (ii) long-distance pollination by migrating insects, and (iii) long-distance seed dispersal from an A. tomentosum population with a history of past introgression. Of these, only the third is consistent with the available evidence. These results highlight the complexity of interpreting disjunct species distributions and underscore the value of integrative approaches for resolving population identity, origin, dispersal, and persistence across environments.