Climatic stability drives latitudinal trends in range size and richness of woody plants in the Western Ghats, India

Page, Navendu; Shanker, Kartik

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235733

Cited by 22 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Latitudinal mid-point of the range has often been used as a proxy for region of evolutionary origin for the species (Weir andSchluter 2007, Page andShanker 2020). We also used latitudinal mid-point of the global range as a proxy for region of evolutionary origin (clade origin) for each species.…”

Section: Clade Origin -Temperate or Tropicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

et al. 2021

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Globally, high elevation habitats have been independently colonized by taxa separated by millions of years of evolution. Mountains thus represent excellent systems to study how distantly related species adapt to the same environmental challenges. Cold temperatures influence the elevational distribution of birds along montane gradients. Yet the eco-physiological adaptations that may explain this pattern, such as variation in insulative feather structure across high elevation and low elevation species has not been quantified. We used a comparative approach to understand if elevation, evolutionary history and body size drive variation in thermo-insulative feather traits across 1715 specimens of 249 Himalayan passerines. Controlling for phylogenetic relationships between species, we found that the proportion of the feather's plumulaceous (downy) section increased with elevation. Body size also had a predictable effect on thermo-insulative variables with small birds having relatively longer feathers and thus a more insulative plumage than large birds. We show that an increase in the proportion of the feather's downy section at colder temperatures is an evolutionarily widespread response across temperate and tropical taxa, and overall, smaller-bodied birds tend to have longer and more insulative feathers. Our results reveal convergent patterns in feather structure variation as a response to cold temperatures across species separated by millions of years of evolution.

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Section: Clade Origin -Temperate or Tropicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

et al. 2021

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“…This, along with climatic stability over long periods of time as inferred from past vegetation patterns (Prasad et al, 2009;Divya and Karanth), could have led to the persistence and diversification of ancient centipede lineages in the southern WG (Divya et al, 2020). On the other hand, higher latitudes of the WG are observed to have increasing seasonality (Page & Shanker, 2020), which is associated with the Miocene emergence of the Indian monsoon (Gunnell, 1997) and has been implicated in the decline in taxonomic (Page & Shanker, 2020) and phylogenetic diversity in plants (Bose et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examination of relative phylogenetic diversity and endemism patterns allowed us to identify ancient, evolutionarily and geographically unique lineages in the southern WG. High taxonomic diversity in the southern WG has been documented in plants (Page & Shanker, 2020) and animals (Aravind & Gururaja, 2011;Aravind et al, 2005;Daniels, 1992). However, an understanding of diversity patterns from a phylogenetic perspective remains limited and needs to be explored further.…”

Section: Southern Western Ghats -Hotspot Within a Hotspotmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SWG refuge hypothesis predicts that older lineages will be present in the SWG and younger lineages will be present in the CWG and NWG. In addition to the geoclimatic processes, there is also a seasonality gradient along the WG, with northern latitudes showing greater temperature and precipitation seasonality than the southern latitudes, which has been shown to influence diversity patterns (Joshi & Karanth, 2013;Bose et al, 2019;Page & Shanker, 2020). However, an explicit examination of the diversity patterns using distributional, climatic and phylogenetic data remains to be explored for WG biota.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial patterns of phylogenetic diversity and endemism in the Western Ghats, India: a case study using ancient predatory arthropods

Bharti

Edgecombe

Karanth³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Aim: To study patterns of phylogenetic diversity, endemism and turnover in a community of ancient arthropods across a biodiversity hotspot. Our specific aims were to understand diversity gradients, identify hotspots of endemism and conservation importance, and highlight poorly-studied areas with unique biodiversity. Location: The Western Ghats (WG), India. Methods: We compiled a location data-set for 19 scolopendrid centipedes species which was used to predict areas of habitat suitability using bioclimatic and geomorphological variables in Maxent. We used predicted distributions and time-calibrated species phylogeny to calculate taxonomic and phylogenetic indices of diversity, endemism and turnover. Results: We observed a decreasing gradient in Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Diversity (TD/PD) from the southern to northern WG and high Phylogenetic Endemism (PE) in the southern and northern WG. Southern WG had the highest diversity and was represented by lineages with long branch lengths and short ranges as observed from Relative Phylogenetic Diversity/Endemism (RPD and RPE). Despite having low PD, the northern WG had high values of PE represented by distinct lineages as inferred from RPE. Sites across the Palghat Gap grouped separately in comparisons of species turnover along the WG. Main conclusions: Our findings support expectations from the latitudinal diversity gradient in the WG and the southern WG refuge hypotheses. The high diversity and endemism along with the presence of ancient lineages in the southern WG is consistent with in-situ speciation. Climatic differences or dispersal barriers might have retained this diversity locally. High phylogenetic endemism in lateritic plateaus of the northern WG, albeit with low phylogenetic diversity, indicates the presence of distinct evolutionary lineages that might be adapted to life in these landscapes characterized by poor soil conditions and seasonal ephemeral habitats. Our results from soil arthropods highlight the need to use phylogeny and distribution data while assessing diversity and endemism patterns in the WG.

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“…This is very high as compared to other sites in the world where the densities of hemi‐epiphytic figs are typically <1 tree/ha (Harrison, 2005). Ficus (overall) densities were 1.4 trees/ha at a site in the southern Western Ghats (Page & Shanker, 2020). Ficus densities of up to 10 trees/ha have been reported in Sulawesi (Kinnaird et al., 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large frugivores matter more on an island: Insights from island‐mainland comparison of plant–frugivore communities

Naniwadekar

Gopal

Page

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Endozoochory, a mutualistic interaction between plants and frugivores, is one of the key processes responsible for maintenance of tropical biodiversity. Islands, which have a smaller subset of plants and frugivores when compared with mainland communities, offer an interesting setting to understand the organization of plant–frugivore communities vis‐a‐vis the mainland sites. We examined the relative influence of functional traits and phylogenetic relationships on the plant–seed disperser interactions on an island and a mainland site. The island site allowed us to investigate the organization of the plant–seed disperser community in the natural absence of key frugivore groups (bulbuls and barbets) of Asian tropics. The endemic Narcondam Hornbill was the most abundant frugivore on the island and played a central role in the community. Species strength of frugivores (a measure of relevance of frugivores for plants) was positively associated with their abundance. Among plants, figs had the highest species strength and played a central role in the community. Island‐mainland comparison revealed that the island plant–seed disperser community was more asymmetric, connected, and nested as compared to the mainland community. Neither phylogenetic relationships nor functional traits (after controlling for phylogenetic relationships) were able to explain the patterns of interactions between plants and frugivores on the island or the mainland pointing toward the diffused nature of plant–frugivore interactions. The diffused nature is a likely consequence of plasticity in foraging behavior and trait convergence that contribute to governing the interactions between plants and frugivores. This is one of the few studies to compare the plant–seed disperser communities between a tropical island and mainland and demonstrates key role played by a point‐endemic frugivore in seed dispersal on island.

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Climatic stability drives latitudinal trends in range size and richness of woody plants in the Western Ghats, India

Cited by 22 publications

References 48 publications

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

Elevation and body size drive convergent variation in thermo‐insulative feather structure of Himalayan birds

Spatial patterns of phylogenetic diversity and endemism in the Western Ghats, India: a case study using ancient predatory arthropods

Large frugivores matter more on an island: Insights from island‐mainland comparison of plant–frugivore communities

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