Phylogenetic diversity of ferns reveals different patterns of niche conservatism and habitat filtering between epiphytic and terrestrial assemblages

Frontiers of Biogeography

article

Adriana C. Hernandez-Rojas¹  Jürgen Kluge¹  Sarah Noben²  Johan D. Reyes Chí1vez³  Thorsten Krömer⁴  César I. Carvajal-Herní1ndez⁵  Laura Salazar⁶  Michael Kessler² 

[1] Faculty of Geography, Philipps University Marburg;Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich;Escuela Agrícola Panamericana Zamorano;Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales ,(CITRO), Universidad Veracruzana;Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana;Centro de Investigación de la Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático e Ingeniería en Biodiversidad y Recursos Genéticos, Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica

关键词: biogeography;    elevational gradient;    latitudinal gradient;    monilophytes;    Neotropics;    phylogenetic patterns;    pteridophytes;   

DOI  :  10.21425/F5FBG50023

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: International Biogeography Society

【 摘 要 】

Much attention has been directed to understanding species richness patterns, but adding an evolutionary perspective allows us to also consider the historical processes determining current diversity patterns. We analyzed phylogenetic patterns of fern species assemblages in 868 plots along a wide range of elevational (0-4000 m) and latitudinal (0°-23°N) gradients in the Neotropics to allow a deeper understanding of evolutionary processes underlying current patterns of diversity and community assembly. Overall, we found that phylogenetic mean pairwise distance (sMPD) and mean nearest taxon distance (sMNTD) decreased with increasing latitude and elevation, but that these geographical factors per se were weak explanatory variables. Incorporating environmental variables strongly enhanced the power of the predictive model, indicating that fern assemblages are phylogenetically more diverse under wet and warm to cool conditions at low latitudes and elevations. Further, whereas epiphytic fern assemblages were strongly influenced by climatic factors, this was not the case for terrestrial ones, suggesting that edaphic conditions and vegetation structure may have a stronger influence on the evolution and diversification of terrestrial ferns. We conclude that fern assemblages are strongly influenced by phylogenetic niche conservatism and environmental filtering. This has also been found for angiosperms, but the direction of the environment-phylogenetic relationship is often opposed in the two groups, suggesting that the older age of many fern lineages includes historical signals that are not evident in the more recent angiosperm radiation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY