Phylogenetic diversity and the structure of host-epiphyte interactions across the Neotropics

PeerJ

article

Marcio R. Pie¹  Fernanda S. Caron²  Thom Dallimore¹  Helena Einzmann⁴  Peter Hietz⁵  Michael Kessler⁶  Flavio Nunes Ramos⁷  João Pedro Costa Elias⁷  Holger Kreft⁸  Thorsten Krömer⁹  Maria Judith Carmona Higuita⁹  Daniel Zuleta^1,10  Giesta Machado^1,11  André Luís de Gasper^1,11  Gerhard Zotz^1,12  Glenda Mendieta Leiva^1,14  Derio Antonio Jimenez-Lopez^1,15  Alex Fernando Mendes^1,16  Pedro Brancalion^1,17  Sara Mortara^1,18  Christopher Thomas Blum^1,19  Mariana Victória Irume^2,20  Nayely Martínez-Meléndez Nayely^2,21  Ana Maria Benavides^2,22  Carlos Renato Boelter^2,20  Sven Batke¹ 

[1]Biology Department, Edge Hill University

[2]Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná

[3]World Museum, National Museums Liverpool

[4]Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

[5]Institute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences

[6]Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich

[7]Instituto de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal de Alfenas

[8]Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, University of Göttingen

[9]Universidad Veracruzana

[10]Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

[11]Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Regional de Blumenau

[12]Institute for Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University

[13]Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

[14]Phillips University of Marburg

[15]Programa de doctorado en Ciencias

[16]Departamento de Ciências Florestais, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de São Paulo

[17]Universidade de São Paulo

[18]International Institute for Sustainability IIS-Rio

[19]Universidade Federal do Paraná

[20]Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA

[21]Ministry of Environment and Natural History

[22]Medellin Botanical Garden

[23]Centro Zamorano de Biodiversidad, Departamento de Ambiente y Desarrollo

关键词: Evolution;    Commensalism;    Neotropics;    Trees;    Forests;    Distinctiveness;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15500

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Understanding the mechanisms driving community assembly has been a major focus of ecological research for nearly a century, yet little is known about these mechanisms in commensal communities, particularly with respect to their historical/evolutionary components. Here, we use a large-scale dataset of 4,440 vascular plant species to explore the relationship between the evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) (as measured by the ’species evolutionary history’ (SEH)) of host species and the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of their associated epiphyte species. Although there was considerable variation across hosts and their associated epiphyte species, they were largely unrelated to host SEH. Our results mostly support the idea that the determinants of epiphyte colonization success might involve host characteristics that are unrelated to host SEH (e.g., architectural differences between hosts). While determinants of PD of epiphyte assemblages are poorly known, they do not appear to be related to the evolutionary history of host species. Instead, they might be better explained by neutral processes of colonization and extinction. However, the high level of phylogenetic signal in epiphyte PD (independent of SEH) suggests it might still be influenced by yet unrecognized evolutionary determinants. This study highlights how little is still known about the phylogenetic determinants of epiphyte communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY