Spatial phylogenetic patterns in the North American moss flora are shaped by history and climate

Abstract

Aim We documented patterns of phylogenetic diversity (PD) and phylogenetic endemism (PE) in the moss flora of North America, determined how environmental variables explain these patterns, compared the patterns in mosses to known patterns in angiosperms and explored how patterns driven by sub‐clades might conflict with patterns driven by other sub‐clades. Location North America north of Mexico. Taxon Mosses (Bryophyta). Methods A maximum‐likelihood tree inferred from publicly available sequence data and locality data from ca. 7.5 × 105 herbarium specimens were combined to build a dataset of 935 species (representing ca. 67% of the known moss flora). Spatial randomization procedures were used to find significance levels of PD and relative phylogenetic diversity (RPD) for the full dataset and three major sub‐clades, as well as to carry out a categorical analysis of Neo‐ and Paleo‐endemism (CANAPE). Range weighted turnover in both species and PE was used to identify phytogeographic regions across the continent. Ordinations of environmental data were used to determine the distribution of PD, RPD, and phytogeographic regions within environmental space. Results of this study were compared to known patterns of phylodiversity in angiosperms. Results Phylodiversity is distributed non‐randomly. Some patterns, for example, long branches in the southeastern US, are consistent with angiosperms; however, there are strong contrasts as well. Overall patterns of PD and RPD are strongly influenced by different phylogenetic scales within mosses, indicating that signal from one clade can obscure patterns in others. Three primary phytogeographic zones are defined by both differing geological histories and differing current abiotic conditions. Phytogeographic regions, PD, and RPD are all aligned with environmental variables. Main conclusions There is evidence for both ecological and historical factors in shaping the moss flora of North America, and biogeographic differences between angiosperms and mosses appear to align with important life‐history differences between the two groups.

Spatial phylogenetics

“…The first large‐scale spatial phylogenetic analyses began to appear in 2014, initially focused on Australia because herbarium digitization reached a critical mass there first (González‐Orozco et al, 2015, 2016; Mishler et al, 2014; Nagalingum et al, 2015; Schmidt‐Lebuhn et al, 2015; Thornhill et al, 2016). Later studies expanded around the world to New Zealand (Heenan et al, 2017), California (Thornhill et al, 2017), Chile (Scherson et al, 2017), the Pacific Northwest (Link‐Pérez & Laffan, 2018), Mexico (Sosa et al, 2018), Wisconsin (Spalink et al, 2018), Florida (Allen et al, 2019), conifers of the world (Mekala et al, 2019), Norway (Mienna et al, 2020), Africa (Dagallier et al, 2020), Mediterranean Europe (Cheikh Albassatneh et al, 2021), Italy (Bartoli et al, 2021), Greece (Kougioumoutzis et al, 2020, 2021), all of North America (Carter et al, 2022; Mishler et al, 2020), China (Zhang et al, 2021, 2022; Zhu et al, 2021) and Japan (Nitta et al, 2022).…”

Global analysis of Poales diversification – parallel evolution in space and time into open and closed habitats

“…In recent decades, spatial phylogenetic analyses (Mishler et al ., 2014) have been increasingly used to evaluate the geographic structure of lineage assembly (Holt et al ., 2013; Thornhill et al ., 2016; Zhang et al ., 2022), to link evolutionary processes to the manifestation of biodiversity through time and space (Carter et al ., 2022; Nitta et al ., 2022; Sanbonmatsu & Spalink, 2022), and for the development of conservation policies (Sechrest et al ., 2002; Gonzalez-Orozco et al ., 2014; Zhang et al ., 2021). While many spatial phylogenetic metrics exist, emerging methods can identify hotspots of remarkable phylogenetic diversity and distinguish between areas of significant palaeo- and neo-endemism (Mishler et al ., 2014).…”

Global analysis of Poales diversification – parallel evolution in space and time into open and closed habitats

“…With this, we test hypotheses regarding the evolution and assembly of Poales in open and closed habitats throughout the world, analyse the impact of evolutionary history on phylogenetic regionalisation and examine whether diversification patterns demonstrate parallel or divergent evolution. Spatial phylogenetic analyses (Mishler et al ., 2014) are increasingly used to evaluate the geographic structure of lineage assembly (Holt et al ., 2013; Thornhill et al ., 2016; Zhang et al ., 2022), to link evolutionary processes to the manifestation of biodiversity through time and space (Carter et al ., 2022; Nitta et al ., 2022; Sanbonmatsu & Spalink, 2022), and for the development of conservation policies (Sechrest et al ., 2002; Gonzalez‐Orozco et al ., 2016; Zhang et al ., 2021). While many spatial phylogenetic metrics exist, emerging methods can identify hotspots of remarkable phylogenetic diversity and distinguish between areas of significant palaeo‐ and neo‐endemism (Mishler et al ., 2014).…”