scholarly journals Niche shifts after island colonization spurred adaptive diversification and speciation in a cosmopolitan bird clade

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1958) ◽  
pp. 20211022
Author(s):  
Oriol Lapiedra ◽  
Ferran Sayol ◽  
Joan Garcia-Porta ◽  
Daniel Sol
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Evolutionary Adaptation ◽  
Geographic Isolation ◽  
Adaptive Diversification ◽  
Island Colonization ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Niche Shifts ◽  
Evolutionary Radiation ◽  
Speciation Rates

Islands have long been recognized as key contributors to biodiversity because they facilitate geographic isolation and ecological divergence from mainland ancestors. However, island colonization has traditionally been considered an evolutionary dead-end process, and its consequences for continental biodiversity remain understudied. Here, we use the evolutionary radiation of Columbiformes (i.e. pigeons and doves) to examine if ecological niche shifts on islands shaped biological diversification and community composition on continents. We show that the colonization of islands by continental, terrestrial-foraging lineages led to the exploitation of a new ecological niche (i.e. arboreal foraging). This transition towards arboreal foraging was associated with evolutionary adaptation towards a new morphological optimum. In addition, arboreal-foraging lineages of islands experienced an increase in speciation rates, which was associated with successful range expansions to other islands as well as back colonization of continents. Our results provide empirical evidence that diversification on continents can only be fully understood when studying the diversification processes that took place on islands, challenging the view of islands as mere sinks of evolutionary diversity.

Using ecological niche modeling for quantitative biogeographic analysis: a case study of Miocene and Pliocene Equinae in the Great Plains

Paleobiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlin Clare Maguire ◽  
Alycia L. Stigall
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Ecological Niche Modeling ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Speciation Rates

The subfamily Equinae in the Great Plains region of North America underwent a dramatic radiation and subsequent decline as climate changed from warm and humid in the middle Miocene to cooler and more arid conditions during the late Miocene. Here we use ecological niche modeling (ENM), specifically the GARP (Genetic Algorithm using Rule-set Prediction) modeling system, to reconstruct the geographic distribution of individual species during two time slices from the middle Miocene through early Pliocene. This method combines known species occurrence points with environmental parameters inferred from sedimentological variables to model each species' fundamental niche. The geographic range of each species is then predicted to occupy the geographic area within the study region wherever the set of environmental parameters that constrain the fundamental niche occurs. We analyze changes in the predicted distributions of individual species between time slices in relation to Miocene/Pliocene climate change. Specifically, we examine and compare distribution patterns for two time slices that span the period from the mid-Miocene (Barstovian) Climatic Optimum into the early Pliocene (Blancan) to determine whether habitat fragmentation led to speciation within the clade and whether species survival was related to geographic range size. Patchy geographic distributions were more common in the middle Miocene when speciation rates were high. During the late Miocene, when speciation rates were lower, continuous geographic ranges were more common. Equid species tracked their preferred habitat within the Great Plains region as well as regionally throughout North America. Species with larger predicted ranges preferentially survived the initial cooling event better than species with small geographic ranges. As climate continued to deteriorate in the late Miocene, however, range size became irrelevant to survival, and extinction rates increased for species of all range sizes. This is the first use of ENM and GARP in the continental fossil record. This powerful quantitative biogeographic method offers great promise for studies of other taxa and geologic intervals.

scholarly journals Invasion but not hybridisation is associated with ecological niche shift in monkeyflowers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Da Re ◽  
Angel P. Olivares ◽  
William Smith ◽  
Mario Vallejo-Marín
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
Niche Shift ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Introduced Populations ◽  
Niche Dynamics ◽  
Introduced Range ◽  
Niche Shifts ◽  
Native And Introduced Ranges

AbstractBackgroundThe ecological niche occupied by novel hybrids can influence their establishment as well as the potential to coexist with their parents. Hybridisation generates new phenotypic combinations, which, in some cases, may allow them to occupy ecological niches outside the environmental envelope of parental taxa. In other cases, hybrids may retain similar ecological niches to their parents, resulting in competition and affecting their coexistence. To date, few studies have quantitatively assessed niche shifts associated with hybridisation in recently introduced populations while simultaneously characterising the niche of parental species in both native and introduced ranges.AimsIn this study, we compared the ecological niche of a novel hybrid plant with the niches of its two parental taxa in the non-native geographic range. We also characterised and compared the parental taxa’s ecological niche of native and introduced populations in order to assess potential niche changes during the invasion process independent of hybridisation.MethodsWe studied monkeyflowers (Mimulus spp., Phrymaceae) that were introduced from the Americas to Europe and New Zealand in the last 200 years. We focused on a novel hybrid, triploid, asexual taxon (M. × robertsii) that occurs only in the British Isles where its two parents (M. guttatus and M. luteus) come into secondary contact. We assembled more than 12,000 geo-referenced occurrence records and eight environmental variables of the three taxa across native and introduced ranges, and conducted ecological niche model analysis using maximum entropy, principal component and niche dynamics analysis.ResultsWe found no evidence of niche shift in the hybrid, M. × robertsii compared to introduced populations of both of their parental taxa. The hybrid had a niche more similar to M. luteus, which is also the rarest of the parental taxa on the introduced range. Among parental monkeyflowers, M. guttatus showed niche conservatism in introduced populations in Europe, but a niche shift in New Zealand, while M. luteus showed a niche shift in Europe. However, the evidence of niche shift should be treated with caution due to the occurence of non-analog climatic conditions, small population size and unfilling niche dynamics.ConclusionsOur results suggest that hybridisation in non-native monkyeflowers did not result in a shift in ecological niche. This niche conservation could create competition between parental and derived taxa, the outcome of which will depend on relative competitive abilities. Further work is needed to establish if the expansion of the hybrid in the introduced range is causally related to the apparent rarity of one of the parents (M.luteus). Finally, the comparison of native and non-native populations of parental taxa, suggest that whether invasions result in niche shifts or not depends on both taxon and geographic region, highlighting the idiosyncratic nature of biological invasions.

Ecological niche shifts of understorey plants along a latitudinal gradient of temperate forests in north-western Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 1130-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safaa Wasof ◽  
Jonathan Lenoir ◽  
Emilie Gallet-Moron ◽  
Aurélien Jamoneau ◽  
Jörg Brunet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Temperate Forests ◽  
Niche Shifts ◽  
Understorey Plants ◽  
North Western

scholarly journals Role reversal in a predator–prey interaction

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 140186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faustino Sánchez-Garduño ◽  
Pedro Miramontes ◽  
Tatiana T Marquez-Lago
Keyword(s):  
Population Ecology ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Classical System ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Niche Shifts ◽  
Prey Interaction ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Predator–prey relationships are one of the most studied interactions in population ecology. However, little attention has been paid to the possibility of role exchange between species, despite firm field evidence of such phenomena in nature. In this paper, we build a mathematical model capable of reproducing the main phenomenological features of role reversal in a classical system and present results for both the temporal and spatio-temporal cases. We show that, depending on the choice of parameters, our role-reversal dynamical system exhibits excitable-like behaviour, generating waves of species' concentrations that propagate through space. Our findings fill a long-standing gap in modelling ecological interactions and can be applicable to better understanding ecological niche shifts and planning of sustainable ecosystems.

Recently Formed Polyploid Plants Diversify at Lower Rates

Science ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 333 (6047) ◽  
pp. 1257-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itay Mayrose ◽  
Shing H. Zhan ◽  
Carl J. Rothfels ◽  
Karen Magnuson-Ford ◽  
Michael S. Barker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Genomic Studies ◽  
Evolutionary Success ◽  
Key Driver ◽  
The Dead

Polyploidy, the doubling of genomic content, is a widespread feature, especially among plants, yet its macroevolutionary impacts are contentious. Traditionally, polyploidy has been considered an evolutionary dead end, whereas recent genomic studies suggest that polyploidy has been a key driver of macroevolutionary success. We examined the consequences of polyploidy on the time scale of genera across a diverse set of vascular plants, encompassing hundreds of inferred polyploidization events. Likelihood-based analyses indicate that polyploids generally exhibit lower speciation rates and higher extinction rates than diploids, providing the first quantitative corroboration of the dead-end hypothesis. The increased speciation rates of diploids can, in part, be ascribed to their capacity to speciate via polyploidy. Only particularly fit lineages of polyploids may persist to enjoy longer-term evolutionary success.

scholarly journals Evolutionarily distinct “living fossils” require both lower speciation and lower extinction rates

Paleobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic J. Bennett ◽  
Mark D. Sutton ◽  
Samuel T. Turvey
Keyword(s):  
Growth Model ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Living Fossil ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Tree Growth Model

AbstractAs a label for a distinct category of life, “living fossil” is controversial. The term has multiple definitions, and it is unclear whether the label can be genuinely used to delimit biodiversity. Even taking a purely phylogenetic perspective in which a proxy for the living fossil is evolutionary distinctness (ED), an inconsistency arises: Does it refer to “dead-end” lineages doomed to extinction or “panchronic” lineages that survive through multiple epochs? Recent tree-growth model studies indicate that speciation rates must have been unequally distributed among species in the past to produce the shape of the tree of life. Although an uneven distribution of speciation rates may create the possibility for a distinct group of living fossil lineages, such a grouping could only be considered genuine if extinction rates also show a consistent pattern, be it indicative of dead-end or panchronic lineages. To determine whether extinction rates also show an unequal distribution, we developed a tree-growth model in which the probability of speciation and extinction is a function of a tip’s ED. We simulated thousands of trees in which the ED function for a tip is randomly and independently determined for speciation and extinction rates. We find that simulations in which the most evolutionarily distinct tips have lower rates of speciation and extinction produce phylogenetic trees closest in shape to empirical trees. This implies that a distinct set of lineages with reduced rates of diversification, indicative of a panchronic definition, is required to create the shape of the tree of life.

scholarly journals Vacated niches, competitive release and the community ecology of pathogen eradication

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1623) ◽  
pp. 20120150 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O. Lloyd-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Community Ecology ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Ecological Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Adaptation ◽  
Disease Eradication ◽  
Competitive Release

A recurring theme in the epidemiological literature on disease eradication is that each pathogen occupies an ecological niche, and eradication of one pathogen leaves a vacant niche that favours the emergence of new pathogens to replace it. However, eminent figures have rejected this view unequivocally, stating that there is no basis to fear pathogen replacement and even that pathogen niches do not exist. After exploring the roots of this controversy, I propose resolutions to disputed issues by drawing on broader ecological theory, and advance a new consensus based on robust mechanistic principles. I argue that pathogen eradication (and cessation of vaccination) leads to a ‘vacated niche’, which could be re-invaded by the original pathogen if introduced. Consequences for other pathogens will vary, with the crucial mechanisms being competitive release, whereby the decline of one species allows its competitors to perform better, and evolutionary adaptation. Hence, eradication can cause a quantitative rise in the incidence of another infection, but whether this leads to emergence as an endemic pathogen depends on additional factors. I focus on the case study of human monkeypox and its rise following smallpox eradication, but also survey how these ideas apply to other pathogens and discuss implications for eradication policy.

scholarly journals Juvenile ecology drives adult morphology in two insect orders

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1953) ◽  
pp. 20210616
Author(s):  
Peter T. Rühr ◽  
Thomas van de Kamp ◽  
Tomáš Faragó ◽  
Jörg U. Hammel ◽  
Fabian Wilde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Head Shape ◽  
Life Phase ◽  
Ontogenetic Niche Shifts ◽  
Niche Shifts ◽  
Adult Head ◽  
Ontogenetic Niche ◽  
Head Morphology ◽  
Trait Correlations

Most animals undergo ecological niche shifts between distinct life phases, but such shifts can result in adaptive conflicts of phenotypic traits. Metamorphosis can reduce these conflicts by breaking up trait correlations, allowing each life phase to independently adapt to its ecological niche. This process is called adaptive decoupling. It is, however, yet unknown to what extent adaptive decoupling is realized on a macroevolutionary scale in hemimetabolous insects and if the degree of adaptive decoupling is correlated with the strength of ontogenetic niche shifts. It is also unclear whether the degree of adaptive decoupling is correlated with phenotypic disparity. Here, we quantify nymphal and adult trait correlations in 219 species across the whole phylogeny of earwigs and stoneflies to test whether juvenile and adult traits are decoupled from each other. We demonstrate that adult head morphology is largely driven by nymphal ecology, and that adult head shape disparity has increased with stronger ontogenetic niche shifts in some stonefly lineages. Our findings implicate that the hemimetabolan metamorphosis in earwigs and stoneflies does not allow for high degrees of adaptive decoupling, and that high phenotypic disparity can even be realized when the evolution of distinct life phases is coupled.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document