Amazonia Through Time: Andean Uplift, Climate Change, Landscape Evolution, and Biodiversity

Abstract

The Making of Amazonian Diversity The biodiversity of the Amazon Basin is legendary, but the processes by which it has been generated have been debated. In the late 20th century the prevalent view was that the engine of diversity was repeated contraction and expansion of forest refugia during the past 3 million years or so. Hoorn et al. (p. 927 ) analyze findings from a diverse range of disciplines, including molecular phylogeny, ecology, sedimentology, structural geology, and palaeontology, to offer an overview of the entire history of this region during the Cenozoic era (66 million years ago). The uplift of the Andes was a pivotal event in the evolution of Amazonian landscapes because it continually altered river drainage patterns, which in turn put a variety of pressures on organisms to adapt to changing conditions in a multiplicity of ways. Hence, the diversity of the modern biota of the Amazon has more ancient origins than previously thought.

Phylogenetic relationships of Amazonian anole lizards (Dactyloa): Taxonomic implications, new insights about phenotypic evolution and the timing of diversification

“…Glor et al (2001) also inferred pre-pleistocenic splits between the Amazonian anoles D. punctata, N. chrysolepis, N. fuscoauratus, N. ortonii, N. scypheus and N. tandai. A scenario of Amazonian anole diversification preceding the Quaternary is consistent with molecular estimates emerging from a wide range of Amazonian organisms, because most crown-group ages date back to the Neogene (reviewed in Antonelli et al, 2010;Hoorn et al, 2010).…”

Diversification of clearwing butterflies with the rise of the Andes

“…However, low diversity of the host plant, Solanaceae, within these regions (Knapp, 2002) may have precluded further diversification driven by adaptation to alternative host plants. Indeed, forest productivity is higher on nutrient‐rich western Amazonian soils, in contrast to the nutrient‐poor soils of the eastern Amazon (Hoorn et al ., 2010). Further diversification within the monotypic O. aegle group in eastern Amazonia and the Guianas may also have been limited by the availability of larval host plants as has been noted with other ithomiine genera in this region (Elias et al ., 2009).…”

A well-sampled phylogenetic analysis of the polystichoid ferns (Dryopteridaceae) suggests a complex biogeographical history involving both boreotropical migrations and recent transoceanic dispersals

“…Ching (Polypodiaceae), in which pulses of diversification coincide with the uplift of QTP and climate change Wang et al, 2012). Whereas recent investigations have highlighted the key role of the Andean orogeny in the diversification of several South American clades (e.g., Hughes and Eastwood, 2006;Antonelli et al, 2009;Hoorn et al, 2010), the precise impact of the QTP uplift on the evolution of Eastern Asian biota remains poorly understood (Favre et al, 2014) and the diversification pattern of a only a few taxa such as Saussurea DC. (Wang et al, 2009), Lilium L. (Gao et al, 2013) and Rhodiola L. (Zhang et al, 2014) has been investigated.…”