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Valente L, Phillimore AB, Melo M, Warren BH, Clegg SM, Havenstein K, Tiedemann R, Illera JC, Thébaud C, Aschenbach T, Etienne RS. A simple dynamic model explains the diversity of island birds worldwide. Nature 2020; 579:92-96. [PMID: 32076267 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2022-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Colonization, speciation and extinction are dynamic processes that influence global patterns of species richness1-6. Island biogeography theory predicts that the contribution of these processes to the accumulation of species diversity depends on the area and isolation of the island7,8. Notably, there has been no robust global test of this prediction for islands where speciation cannot be ignored9, because neither the appropriate data nor the analytical tools have been available. Here we address both deficiencies to reveal, for island birds, the empirical shape of the general relationships that determine how colonization, extinction and speciation rates co-vary with the area and isolation of islands. We compiled a global molecular phylogenetic dataset of birds on islands, based on the terrestrial avifaunas of 41 oceanic archipelagos worldwide (including 596 avian taxa), and applied a new analysis method to estimate the sensitivity of island-specific rates of colonization, speciation and extinction to island features (area and isolation). Our model predicts-with high explanatory power-several global relationships. We found a decline in colonization with isolation, a decline in extinction with area and an increase in speciation with area and isolation. Combining the theoretical foundations of island biogeography7,8 with the temporal information contained in molecular phylogenies10 proves a powerful approach to reveal the fundamental relationships that govern variation in biodiversity across the planet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Valente
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany. .,Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. .,Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. .,Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
| | | | - Martim Melo
- Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO), InBio, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Ben H Warren
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, UA, Paris, France
| | - Sonya M Clegg
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Katja Havenstein
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Ralph Tiedemann
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Juan Carlos Illera
- Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-CSIC-PA), Oviedo University, Mieres, Spain
| | - Christophe Thébaud
- Unité Mixte de Recherche 5174, CNRS-IRD-Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France
| | - Tina Aschenbach
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany
| | - Rampal S Etienne
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Kimball RT, Crawford DJ, Smith EB. Evolutionary processes in the genus Coreocarpus: insights from molecular phylogenetics. Evolution 2003; 57:52-61. [PMID: 12643567 DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00215.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A molecular phylogenetic study of the plant genus Coreocarpus was conducted using nuclear (ITS) and plastid (rpl16 intron) DNA sequences, with phylogenies of the nuclear and plastid sequences highly congruent in defining a monophyletic group of six species (core Coreocarpus), although three other species often placed within the genus were excluded. Relationships within the genus are largely but not totally concordant with prior biosystematic studies. Despite strong molecular support, no morphological characters uniting the six species of core Coreocarpus have been identified; retention of plesiomorphic characters and the genetic lability of characters are two probable factors contributing to lack of consistent defining characters. The age of the core Coreocarpus is estimated at 1 million years because the basal species is endemic to a volcanic island that emerged in the past million years. Mapping the results of earlier breeding studies on the molecular phylogeny showed that use of cross-compatibility as a criterion for species delimitation would result in the recognition of paraphyletic species. Prior field, morphological, and biosystematic studies provided no indication of past hybridization in the evolution of Coreocarpus, and species in the genus appeared to be well defined morphologically. However, three instances of incongruence were observed. Two of these were between the nuclear and plastid partitions, and the third was between the morphological species assignment of one accession and the molecular data. If hybridization accounts for incongruence between the nuclear and plastid data, it occurred between species that now appear to be cross-incompatible and allopatric. The incongruence between morphological species assignment and the molecular data could be the result of parallel fixation of characters that have a simple genetic basis. This study suggests that the evolutionary history of Coreocarpus is much more complex than indicated from prior biosystematic investigations and that biosystematic and molecular phylogenetic studies may complement each other for elucidating the evolution and phylogeny of a group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca T Kimball
- Department of Zoology, University of Florida, PO Box 118525, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
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