‘Convergent’ traits of mediterranean woody plants belong to pre-mediterranean lineages

Verdú, Miguel; Dávila, Patricia; Garcı́a-Fayos, P.; Flores-Hernández, Noé; Valiente‐Banuet, Alfonso

doi:10.1046/j.1095-8312.2003.00160.x

Cited by 95 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…In my view the most compelling studies to date along these lines have been carried out in Mediterranean climate systems, by Miguel Verdu et al (45) and David Ackerly (46), both building on the seminal work of Carlos Herrera (47).…”

Section: Niche Conservatism and Regional Species Poolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A phylogenetic perspective on the distribution of plant diversity

Donoghue

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

608

623

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Phylogenetic studies are revealing that major ecological niches are more conserved through evolutionary history than expected, implying that adaptations to major climate changes have not readily been accomplished in all lineages. Phylogenetic niche conservatism has important consequences for the assembly of both local communities and the regional species pools from which these are drawn. If corridors for movement are available, newly emerging environments will tend to be filled by species that filter in from areas in which the relevant adaptations have already evolved, as opposed to being filled by in situ evolution of these adaptations. Examples include intercontinental disjunctions of tropical plants, the spread of plant lineages around the Northern Hemisphere after the evolution of cold tolerance, and the radiation of northern alpine plants into the Andes. These observations highlight the role of phylogenetic knowledge and historical biogeography in explanations of global biodiversity patterns. They also have implications for the future of biodiversity.biodiversity ͉ niche conservatism ͉ community assembly ͉ historical biogeography ͉ climate change

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Section: Niche Conservatism and Regional Species Poolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A phylogenetic perspective on the distribution of plant diversity

Donoghue

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

608

623

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“…First, we tested whether the variables in question are phylogenetically conserved, because biome conservation has been demonstrated previously in eucalypts 17 and conservation of post-fire persistence traits has been found in taxa occurring in fire-dependent communities 54 . Phylogenetic conservatism of all four traits was tested in Mesquite using a null distribution generated from 1,000 randomizations of the tips of the phylogeny, with parsimony tree length as the test variable 17 .…”

Section: Comparative Hypothesis Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flammable biomes dominated by eucalypts originated at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary

et al. 2011

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Fire is a major modifier of communities, but the evolutionary origins of its prevalent role in shaping current biomes are uncertain. Australia is among the most fire-prone continents, with most of the landmass occupied by the fire-dependent sclerophyll and savanna biomes. In contrast to biomes with similar climates in other continents, Australia has a tree flora dominated by a single genus, Eucalyptus, and related myrtaceae. A unique mechanism in myrtaceae for enduring and recovering from fire damage likely resulted in this dominance. Here, we find a conserved phylogenetic relationship between post-fire resprouting (epicormic) anatomy and biome evolution, dating from 60 to 62 ma, in the earliest Palaeogene. Thus, fire-dependent communities likely existed 50 million years earlier than previously thought. We predict that epicormic resprouting could make eucalypt forests and woodlands an excellent long-term carbon bank for reducing atmospheric Co 2 compared with biomes with similar fire regimes in other continents.

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“…The ecology and evolution of Mediterranean-type ecosystems are well studied (2,3,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), and although these climatic regions occupy Ͻ5% of the Earth's surface, they harbor almost 20% of the known vascular plant species diversity on Earth. As in other ecosystems, Mediterranean-climate communities are the result of historical effects and sorting processes occurring in different geological times and different ecological scenarios (3,13).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As in other ecosystems, Mediterranean-climate communities are the result of historical effects and sorting processes occurring in different geological times and different ecological scenarios (3,13).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modern Quaternary plant lineages promote diversity through facilitation of ancient Tertiary lineages

Valiente‐Banuet

Rumebe

Verdú

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

251

246

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One of the most important floristic sorting periods to affect modern plant communities occurred during the shift from the wet Tertiary period to the unusually dry Quaternary, when most global deserts developed. During this time, a wave of new plant species emerged, presumably in response to the new climate. Interestingly, most Tertiary species that have been tracked through the fossil record did not disappear but remained relatively abundant despite the development of a much more unfavorable climate for species adapted to moist conditions. Here we find, by integrating paleobotanical, ecological, and phylogenetic analyses, that a large number of ancient Tertiary species in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems appear to have been preserved by the facilitative or ''nurse'' effects of modern Quaternary species. Our results indicate that these interdependent relationships among plants have played a central role in the preservation of the global biodiversity and provided a mechanism for stabilizing selection and the conservation of ecological traits over evolutionary time scales.Mediterranean-type ecosystems ͉ Mexical shrubland ͉ phylogenetic niche conservatism ͉ plant facilitation ͉ stabilizing selection T he evolutionary processes that drive speciation and create biological diversity are central to the natural sciences, but we know little regarding the historical ecological processes that have eliminated species from communities or allowed them to persist (1). Current plant communities are the product of historical sorting processes and, therefore, include mixtures of floristic elements originating in different geological times and, presumably, under different ecological scenarios (2). Many extant plant species are millions of years old (3) and, therefore, have persisted through dramatic changes in global climate. Biogeographic and paleontological evidence indicates that communities are derived from species that have originated in different geological times and places, and that these taxa have been mixed and culled independently of each other through various sorting processes (2, 3). The perception that interdependent processes among plant species are insignificant over evolutionary time frames has been central to the idea that communities are ''merely a coincidence'' (4) and the development of neutral model theory on biodiversity (5). Therefore, with few exceptions (6, 7), plant communities are not thought to possess stable properties determined by plant-plant interactions.In contrast to existing theory, our observations of ecological relationships among species in semiarid communities around the world suggest that powerful facilitative ecological interactions among plant species have been a crucial component of the historical and sorting processes responsible for the composition and diversity of contemporary plant communities. Facilitative interactions appear to have been particularly important during the shift from mesic Tertiary period to the unusually dry Quaternary when global deserts developed. Desertification pr...

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‘Convergent’ traits of mediterranean woody plants belong to pre-mediterranean lineages

Cited by 95 publications

References 29 publications

A phylogenetic perspective on the distribution of plant diversity

A phylogenetic perspective on the distribution of plant diversity

Flammable biomes dominated by eucalypts originated at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary

Modern Quaternary plant lineages promote diversity through facilitation of ancient Tertiary lineages

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