Ecological niche overlap among species of the genus Zaluzania (Asteraceae) from the dry regions of Mexico

Abstract

Background and aims – The hypothesis of ecological niche conservatism postulates that closely related species share ecologically similar environments; that is, they tend to maintain the characteristics of their fundamental niche over time. The objective of this study is to evaluate the similarity and equivalence of the ecological niches among species of the genus Zaluzania (Asteraceae), characteristic of the Mexican arid and semi-arid regions, to infer their potential niche conservatism. Methods – Based on critically reviewed herbarium occurrence data, potential distribution models for eight species of Zaluzania were generated using the Maxent algorithm. The overlap between potential distribution areas was then evaluated using equivalence and ecological niche parameters implemented in the ENMTools software; for this we quantified the degree of overlap and similarity between the niches using the equivalence (D) and similarity (I) parameters.Key results – The resulting models show that species display areas of high suitability along the Mexican dry regions, as well as overlapping heterogeneous values. All models showed high AUC (Area Under the Curve) values (> 0.8). The D and I values between each pair of species showed low values of overlap.Conclusions – Each species of the genus shows a fundamental niche distinct from their sister species. The genus thus offers an example of niche divergence among species, with each one adapting to different environmental pressures. Our results do not support the hypothesis of niche conservatism in the genus, suggesting that the species evolved in divergent environments.

Regional Analysis of the Potential Distribution of Heptacodium miconioides and Its Competitor Species in China

“…What should be of concern is not whether competition occurs or not, but rather how the different outcomes of the competition will affect the ecosystem as a whole, and in particular, the impact on species' coexistence [56]. Mario et al [57] concluded that the higher the value of ecological niche overlap between plant species and the stronger the response to the same environmental factors, the more intense the competition between species will be. Kermavnar et al found that the greater the ecological niche overlap, the more intense the interspecific competition in types of forest vegetation [58].…”

The role of ecological niche conservatism in the evolution of bird distributional patterns in Mesoamerican seasonally dry forests

“…However, currently high dissimilarities in species composition (Becerra, 2005; Montaño‐Arias et al., 2018; Prieto‐Torres, Rojas‐Soto, Bonaccorso, et al., 2019; Ríos‐Muñoz & Navarro‐Sigüenza, 2012) suggest independent processes shaping species composition and diversification patterns (Prieto‐Torres, Rojas‐Soto, Bonaccorso, et al., 2019; Prieto‐Torres, Rojas‐Soto, Santiago‐Alarcón, et al., 2019; Ríos‐Muñoz & Navarro‐Sigüenza, 2012; Sánchez‐González et al., 2021). This implies a complex evolution for both ecological niches and geographical distributions, which remains poorly understood (Castillo‐Chora, Sánchez‐González, et al., 2021; Hernández‐Canchola & León‐Paniagua, 2017; Sánchez‐González et al., 2023; Suárez‐Mota & Villaseñor, 2020).…”

Niche differentiation, reproductive interference, and range expansion

“…Species with broader niches are capable of persisting in a broader range of environments and thus tend to have larger geographic ranges (Brown, 1984;Carscadden et al, 2020;Kambach et al, 2019;Slatyer et al, 2013). In taxonomic groups in which niche differentiation has occurred and most species are habitat specialists, a habitat generalist with a relatively broad niche (Figure 1a), or one near the ancestral group centroid (Figure 1b), would be expected to have the largest geographic range and the most geographic overlap with the other species (Suárez-Mota & Villaseñor, 2020;Tomašových et al, 2017).…”