Carving up Australia's arid zone: a review of the bioregionalisation of the Eremaean and Eyrean biogeographic regions

Ebach, Malte C.; Murphy, Daniel J.

doi:10.1071/bt19077

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…phylogenetic clade H) are, with few exceptions including Bontia, Myoporum and a small number of Eremophila species, distributed in arid/semi-arid regions of Australia ( Figure S3). The complex evolutionary history and spatially heterogenous nature of Australia's arid zone is now being recognised [46,47], although dividing the arid biome into smaller areas for biogeographic analysis remains problematic [48]. In the present study, clear geographic patterns emerge between phylogenetic clades A-H ( Figure S3).…”

Section: Resin Chemistry As a Key Strategy To Adapt To The Eremean Zonementioning

confidence: 57%

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genusEremophila

Gericke

Fowler

Heskes

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Eremophila is the largest genus in the plant tribe Myoporeae (Scrophulariaceae) and exhibits incredible morphological diversity across the Australian continent. The Australian Aboriginal Peoples recognize many Eremophila species as important sources of traditional medicine, the most frequently used plant parts being the leaves. Recent phylogenetic studies have revealed complex evolutionary relationships between Eremophila and related genera in the tribe. Unique and structurally diverse metabolites, particularly diterpenoids, are also a feature of plants in this group. To assess the full dimension of the chemical space of the tribe Myoporeae, we investigated the metabolite diversity in a chemo-evolutionary framework applying a combination of molecular phylogenetic and state-of-the-art computational metabolomics tools to build a dataset involving leaf samples from a total of 291 specimens of Eremophila and allied genera. The chemo-evolutionary relationships are expounded into a systematic context by integration of information about leaf morphology (resin and hairiness), environmental factors (pollination and geographical distribution) and medicinal properties (traditional medicinal uses and antibacterial studies) augmenting our understanding of complex interactions in biological systems.

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Section: Resin Chemistry As a Key Strategy To Adapt To The Eremean Zonementioning

confidence: 57%

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genusEremophila

Gericke

Fowler

Heskes

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…The majority of species in Myoporeae (i.e., phylogenetic clade H) are, with few exceptions including Bontia , Myoporum , and a small number of Eremophila species, distributed in arid/semi‐arid regions of Australia (Figure S9 , for a visual representation of a number of major climatic variables in Australia see Figure S10 ). The complex evolutionary history and spatially heterogenous nature of Australia’s arid zone is now being recognized (Byrne et al., 2008 ; Murphy et al., 2019 ), although dividing the arid biome into smaller areas for biogeographic analysis remains problematic (Ebach and Murphy, 2020 ). In the present study, clear geographic patterns emerge between phylogenetic clades A–H (Figure S9 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genus Eremophila

et al. 2021

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SUMMARY Eremophila is the largest genus in the plant tribe Myoporeae (Scrophulariaceae) and exhibits incredible morphological diversity across the Australian continent. The Australian Aboriginal Peoples recognize many Eremophila species as important sources of traditional medicine, the most frequently used plant parts being the leaves. Recent phylogenetic studies have revealed complex evolutionary relationships between Eremophila and related genera in the tribe. Unique and structurally diverse metabolites, particularly diterpenoids, are also a feature of plants in this group. To assess the full dimension of the chemical space of the tribe Myoporeae, we investigated the metabolite diversity in a chemo‐evolutionary framework applying a combination of molecular phylogenetic and state‐of‐the‐art computational metabolomics tools to build a dataset involving leaf samples from a total of 291 specimens of Eremophila and allied genera. The chemo‐evolutionary relationships are expounded into a systematic context by integration of information about leaf morphology (resin and hairiness), environmental factors (pollination and geographical distribution), and medicinal properties (traditional medicinal uses and antibacterial studies), augmenting our understanding of complex interactions in biological systems.

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“…Multiple studies have found that different biogeographic templates, encompassing those both qualitative and quantitative perspectives, were mostly congruent with each other (Bloomfield, Knerr, & Encinas-Viso, 2018; González-Orozco, Laffan, Knerr, & Miller, 2013; González-Orozco, Thornhill, Knerr, Laffan, & Miller, 2014). Yet, even when applying similar biogeographic approaches to partition Australia’s landscape, phyto- and zoo-geographers disagreed on the boundaries of some areas of Australia, such as the arid region (Ebach & Murphy, 2020). In our algorithmic, data-driven model, the partition of arid Australia is greater than in any of the bioregionalization scenarios of Bloomfield et al (2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust, data-driven bioregionalizations emerge from diversity concordance

Mancheno¹,

Buettel

Ondei³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Aim: Despite the increasing interest in developing new bioregionalizations and assessing the most widely accepted biogeographic frameworks, no study to date has sought to systematically define a system of small bioregions nested within larger ones that better reflect the distribution and patterns of biodiversity. Here, we examine how an algorithmic, data-driven model of diversity patterns can lead to an ecologically interpretable hierarchy of bioregions. Location: Australia. Time period: Present. Major taxa studied: Terrestrial vertebrates and vascular plants. Methods: We compiled information on the biophysical characteristics and species occupancy of Australia′s geographic conservation units (bioregions). Then, using cluster analysis to identify groupings of bioregions representing optimal discrete-species areas, we evaluated what a hierarchical bioregionalization system would look like when based empirically on the within- and between-site diversity patterns across taxa. Within an information-analytical framework, we then assessed the degree to which the World Wildlife Fund′s (WWF) biomes and ecoregions and our suite of discrete-species areas are spatially associated and compared those results among bioregionalization scenarios. Results: Information on biodiversity patterns captured was moderate for WWF′s biomes (50–58% for birds′ beta, and plants′ alpha and beta diversity, of optimal discrete areas, respectively) and ecoregions (additional 4–25%). Our plants and vertebrate optimal areas retained more information on alpha and beta diversity across taxa, with the two algorithmically derived biogeographic scenarios sharing 86.5% of their within- and between-site diversity information. Notably, discrete-species areas for beta diversity were parsimonious with respect to those for alpha diversity. Main conclusions: Nested systems of bioregions must systematically account for the variation of species diversity across taxa if biodiversity research and conservation action are to be most effective across multiple spatial or temporal planning scales. By demonstrating an algorithmic rather than subjective method for defining bioregionalizations using species-diversity concordances, which reliably reflects the distributional patterns of multiple taxa, this work offers a valuable new tool for systematic conservation planning.

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Carving up Australia's arid zone: a review of the bioregionalisation of the Eremaean and Eyrean biogeographic regions

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genusEremophila

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genusEremophila

Navigating through chemical space and evolutionary time across the Australian continent in plant genus Eremophila

Robust, data-driven bioregionalizations emerge from diversity concordance

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