An asymmetry in niche conservatism contributes to the latitudinal species diversity gradient in New World vertebrates

Smith, Brian Tilston; Bryson, Robert W.; Houston, Derek D.; Klicka, John

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01855.x

Cited by 64 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Secondary colonization of North America from the tropics occurred surprisingly rarely, given the high species diversity and deep history of Emberizoidea in the tropics. These results contrast with out-ofthe-tropics models for the evolution of the latitudinal diversity gradient (43) and instead are consistent with the hypothesis that tropical species have greater conservatism in ecological niche than temperate species (28,44). Our results further suggest that, in this diverse radiation of migratory birds, shifts of winter ranges out of North America during the evolution of migration served as a biogeographical conduit that bolstered the establishment of temperate lineages in the tropics and preceded in situ tropical diversification.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Temperate origins of long-distance seasonal migration in New World songbirds

Winger

Barker

Ree

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

101

107

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Migratory species exhibit seasonal variation in their geographic ranges, often inhabiting geographically and ecologically distinct breeding and nonbreeding areas. The complicated geography of seasonal migration has long posed a challenge for inferring the geographic origins of migratory species as well as evolutionary sequences of change in migratory behavior. To address this challenge, we developed a phylogenetic model of the joint evolution of breeding and nonbreeding (winter) ranges and applied it to the inference of biogeographic history in the emberizoid passerine birds. We found that seasonal migration between breeding ranges in North America and winter ranges in the Neotropics evolved primarily via shifts of winter ranges toward the tropics from ancestral ranges in North America. This result contrasts with a dominant paradigm that hypothesized migration evolving out of the tropics via shifts of the breeding ranges. We also show that major lineages of tropical, sedentary emberizoids are derived from northern, migratory ancestors. In these lineages, the winter ranges served as a biogeographic conduit for temperate-to-tropical colonization: winter-range shifts toward the tropics during the evolution of long-distance migration often preceded southward shifts of breeding ranges, the loss of migration, and in situ tropical diversification. Meanwhile, the evolution of long-distance migration enabled the persistence of old lineages in North America. These results illuminate how the evolution of seasonal migration has contributed to greater niche conservatism among tropical members of this diverse avian radiation.evolution of migration | historical biogeography | dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis | bird migration | tropical niche conservatism T he evolution of seasonal migratory behavior among animals involves a suite of behavioral, physiological, morphological, and neurological adaptations that enable migrants' extraordinary feats of endurance and navigation (1-3). However, the evolution of migration also is an inherently geographic process during which a species' breeding range and nonbreeding range (henceforth, winter range) become physically and ecologically separated (4). Understanding the evolution of migration therefore requires reconciling the fascinating adaptations of migratory individuals with the biogeographic factors that control the shifting boundaries of a species' range (5). The field of historical biogeography has shed considerable light on the geographic histories of organisms (6, 7) but has largely ignored migratory species due to the difficulty of simultaneously reconstructing the evolution of the breeding and winter ranges, which in migratory species are often ecologically disparate and separated by long distances (5). Consequently, progress in our understanding of the evolution of migration has been impeded by a biogeographic conundrum: testing hypotheses on the evolution of migration requires knowledge of the geographic histories of migratory species (4,8,9), but the existence of migratory b...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Temperate origins of long-distance seasonal migration in New World songbirds

Winger

Barker

Ree

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

101

107

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“…Furthermore, we find that the diversity gradient is apparently maintained by limited dispersal out of the tropics into temperate regions, whereas colonization of the tropics by temperate lineages is proportionally much higher (see also [7,14]). The QuaSSE and clade-based analyses show that these differences are influenced by ecological variables including area, energy and climate (table 1 and figure 1d).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…temperature, ecosystem energy) but such factors can only affect species richness by influencing rates and patterns of speciation, extinction and dispersal, including the timing of the first successful colonization of a region [7]. Thus, these ecological factors may be associated with changing rates of diversification (speciation and extinction; [8][9][10][11][12]), limitations on dispersal among regions [13][14][15], or differences in the timing of colonization of different regions and subsequent time-for-speciation and accumulation of richness [13,[16][17][18]. These processes of speciation, extinction and dispersal can be estimated most & 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale phylogenetic analyses reveal the causes of high tropical amphibian diversity

2013

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Many groups show higher species richness in tropical regions but the underlying causes remain unclear. Despite many competing hypotheses to explain latitudinal diversity gradients, only three processes can directly change species richness across regions: speciation, extinction and dispersal. These processes can be addressed most powerfully using large-scale phylogenetic approaches, but most previous studies have focused on small groups and recent time scales, or did not separate speciation and extinction rates. We investigate the origins of high tropical diversity in amphibians, applying new phylogenetic comparative methods to a tree of 2871 species. Our results show that high tropical diversity is explained by higher speciation in the tropics, higher extinction in temperate regions and limited dispersal out of the tropics compared with colonization of the tropics from temperate regions. These patterns are strongly associated with climate-related variables such as temperature, precipitation and ecosystem energy. Results from models of diversity dependence in speciation rate suggest that temperate clades may have lower carrying capacities and may be more saturated (closer to carrying capacity) than tropical clades. Furthermore, we estimate strikingly low tropical extinction rates over geological time scales, in stark contrast to the dramatic losses of diversity occurring in tropical regions presently.

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“…Nevertheless, despite having individually narrower niches, resident species as a group occupy a wider climatic space, which encompasses a large part of that occupied by migrants during their breeding period ( figure 3b,c). Given that resident species are more numerous than migrants, it is not surprising that as a group the former occupy a larger area of climatic space [48]. Also, if biotic interactions are stronger in the tropics as argued by some authors, then competition may cause niches to diverge into unused climatic space to a greater extent in resident, tropical species [50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche-tracking migrants and niche-switching residents: evolution of climatic niches in New World warblers (Parulidae)

et al. 2016

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Differences in life-history traits between tropical and temperate lineages are often attributed to differences in their climatic niche dynamics. For example, the more frequent appearance of migratory behaviour in temperate-breeding species than in species originally breeding in the tropics is believed to have resulted partly from tropical climatic stability and niche conservatism constraining tropical species from shifting their ranges. However, little is known about the patterns and processes underlying climatic niche evolution in migrant and resident animals. We evaluated the evolution of overlap in climatic niches between seasons and its relationship to migratory behaviour in the Parulidae, a family of New World passerine birds. We used ordination methods to measure seasonal niche overlap and niche breadth of 54 resident and 49 migrant species and used phylogenetic comparative methods to assess patterns of climatic niche evolution. We found that despite travelling thousands of kilometres, migrants tracked climatic conditions across the year to a greater extent than tropical residents. Migrant species had wider niches than resident species, although residents as a group occupied a wider climatic space and niches of migrants and residents overlapped extensively. Neither breeding latitude nor migratory distance explained variation among species in climatic niche overlap between seasons. Our findings support the notion that tropical species have narrower niches than temperate-breeders, but does not necessarily constrain their ability to shift or expand their geographical ranges and become migratory. Overall, the tropics may have been historically less likely to experience the suite of components that generate strong selection pressures for the evolution of migratory behaviour.

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An asymmetry in niche conservatism contributes to the latitudinal species diversity gradient in New World vertebrates

Cited by 64 publications

References 49 publications

Temperate origins of long-distance seasonal migration in New World songbirds

Temperate origins of long-distance seasonal migration in New World songbirds

Large-scale phylogenetic analyses reveal the causes of high tropical amphibian diversity

Niche-tracking migrants and niche-switching residents: evolution of climatic niches in New World warblers (Parulidae)

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