Herbivory increases diversification across insect clades

Wiens, John J.; Lapoint, Richard T.; Whiteman, Noah K.

doi:10.1038/ncomms9370

Cited by 175 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…90% in molluscs). Herbivory is demonstrably important for insect diversification [36,37], and complete metamorphosis and wings may also be important [37][38][39]. Furthermore, climatic distribution may be important in explaining patterns of diversification among families within clades (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life

2016

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Species richness varies dramatically among clades across the Tree of Life, by over a million-fold in some cases (e.g. placozoans versus arthropods). Two major explanations for differences in richness among clades are the cladeage hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades are older) and the diversification-rate hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades diversify more rapidly, where diversification rate is the net balance of speciation and extinction over time). Here, we examine patterns of variation in diversification rates across the Tree of Life. We address how rates vary across higher taxa, whether rates within higher taxa are related to the subclades within them, and how diversification rates of clades are related to their species richness. We find substantial variation in diversification rates, with rates in plants nearly twice as high as in animals, and rates in some eukaryotes approximately 10-fold faster than prokaryotes. Rates for each kingdom-level clade are then significantly related to the subclades within them. Although caution is needed when interpreting relationships between diversification rates and richness, a positive relationship between the two is not inevitable. We find that variation in diversification rates seems to explain most variation in richness among clades across the Tree of Life, in contrast to the conclusions of previous studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life

2016

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“…2014), occurrence on land instead of in water or in marine environments (e.g., Wiens 2015a,b), the presence of defense mutualisms in plants (Weber and Agrawal 2014), and the presence of herbivory in insects (e.g., Wiens et al. 2015). However, individual studies often tend to focus on a single variable, rather than comparing the relative importance of multiple traits on diversification or species richness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What explains patterns of species richness? The relative importance of climatic‐niche evolution, morphological evolution, and ecological limits in salamanders

Kozak

Wiens

2016

Ecology and Evolution

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A major goal of evolutionary biology and ecology is to understand why species richness varies among clades. Previous studies have suggested that variation in richness among clades might be related to variation in rates of morphological evolution among clades (e.g., body size and shape). Other studies have suggested that richness patterns might be related to variation in rates of climatic‐niche evolution. However, few studies, if any, have tested the relative importance of these variables in explaining patterns of richness among clades. Here, we test their relative importance among major clades of Plethodontidae, the most species‐rich family of salamanders. Earlier studies have suggested that climatic‐niche evolution explains patterns of diversification among plethodontid clades, whereas rates of morphological evolution do not. A subsequent study stated that rates of morphological evolution instead explained patterns of species richness among plethodontid clades (along with “ecological limits” on richness of clades, leading to saturation of clades with species, given limited resources). However, they did not consider climatic‐niche evolution. Using phylogenetic multiple regression, we show that rates of climatic‐niche evolution explain most variation in richness among plethodontid clades, whereas rates of morphological evolution do not. We find little evidence that ecological limits explain patterns of richness among plethodontid clades. We also test whether rates of morphological and climatic‐niche evolution are correlated, and find that they are not. Overall, our results help explain richness patterns in a major amphibian group and provide possibly the first test of the relative importance of climatic niches and morphological evolution in explaining diversity patterns.

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“…Ecological characteristics of insect clades probably also played an important role in their rapid diversification. The evolution of herbivory [5] and interactions between insects and their host plants, most notably flowering plants [6], have been hypothesized to be important drivers of diversification. Despite the importance of insects across ecosystems, the history of their taxonomic richness remains as uncertain as the causes of rapid diversification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient origin of high taxonomic richness among insects

Clapham

Karr

Nicholson³

et al. 2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Insects are a hyper-diverse group, comprising nearly three-quarters of all named animal species on the Earth, but the environmental drivers of their richness and the roles of ecological interactions and evolutionary innovations remain unclear. Previous studies have argued that family-level insect richness increased continuously over the evolutionary history of the group, but inclusion of extant family records artificially inflated the relative richness of younger time intervals. Here we apply sampling-standardization methods to a species-level database of fossil insect occurrences, removing biases present in previous richness curves. We show that insect family-richness peaked 125 Ma and that Recent values are only 1.5-3 times as high as the Late Palaeozoic. Rarefied species-richness data also tentatively suggest little or no net increase in richness over the past 125 Myr. The Cretaceous peak in family richness was coincident with major radiations within extant groups but occurred prior to extinctions within more basal groups. Those extinctions may in part be linked to mid-Cretaceous floral turnover following the evolution of flowering plants. Negligible net richness change over the past 125 Myr implies that major radiations within extant groups were offset by reduced richness within groups that are now relict or extinct.

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Herbivory increases diversification across insect clades

Cited by 175 publications

References 35 publications

Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life

Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life

What explains patterns of species richness? The relative importance of climatic‐niche evolution, morphological evolution, and ecological limits in salamanders

Ancient origin of high taxonomic richness among insects

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