Phylogenetic niche conservatism and variations in species diversity–climate relationships

Abstract

Although contemporary climate has been identified as one of the major determinants of large-scale species diversity patterns, its effect on species diversity greatly varies among clades. Understanding the drivers of the variation in species diversity-climate relationships (DCRs) across clades, which is critical for developing general mechanisms underlying the effects of climate on species diversity patterns, remains a current challenge. Using newly compiled distribution data of 914 Rosaceae species in China and a dated genus-level phylogeny, we first assessed the DCRs for the entire family, the two major growth forms (woody versus herbaceous), and each genus separately, and then explored the drivers underlying the variation in DCRs across different clades. We found that the DCRs significantly differed between woody and herbaceous plants and among different genera in this family. Closely related genera had more similar species diversity patterns and DCRs than expected. Both the ancestral climate niches of different genera and the discrepancy between contemporary and ancestral climate niches explained the variations in DCR slopes across genera with high explanatory power, indicating the effect of niche conservatism on DCRs. Our study suggests that niche conservatism is a major driver of DCR variations between clades, which enhances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying large-scale species diversity patterns.

Evolutionary history and global angiosperm species richness–climate relationships

“…These results suggest that niche conservatism among the three evolutionary factors that we evaluated was the dominant factor of the variations in species richness–climate relationships. This finding is consistent with recent studies on the variations in species richness–climate relationships for eastern Asian woody plants (Su et al, 2020) and Chinese Rosaceae (Wang et al, 2021). Our results further revealed that the discrepancy between contemporary and ancestral climatic niches dominated the variation in species richness–climate relationships across different families, which reveals the specific impact of niche conservatism on species richness–climate relationships.…”

“…This finding suggests that due to niche conservatism, climate has a weak influence on species richness in areas or clades with climates similar to the ancestral conditions under which clades diversified, but the effect of climate is strengthened when one gets away from the ancestral climate of clades. Compared to previous research (Gouveia et al, 2013; Su et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2021), our study further explored how the effect of climate on species richness is moderated by niche conservatism, which extends the original niche conservatism hypothesis and provides a new perspective for understanding the response of species richness to climate change.…”

“…According to this hypothesis, clades with greater discrepancy between ancestral and contemporary climatic niche will have steeper species richness–climate relationships. Studies based on mammals (Buckley et al, 2010), woody angiosperms (Kerkhoff et al, 2014; Su et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2021), lichens, insects and birds (Laiolo et al, 2020) have confirmed the impact of niche conservatism on species richness–climate relationships. However, limited by species distribution data, most previous studies have only been carried out at regional scales (e.g., eastern Asia, Su et al, 2020) or only focused on a certain family of angiosperms (e.g., Rosaceae , Wang et al, 2021).…”

“…Studies based on mammals (Buckley et al, 2010), woody angiosperms (Kerkhoff et al, 2014; Su et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2021), lichens, insects and birds (Laiolo et al, 2020) have confirmed the impact of niche conservatism on species richness–climate relationships. However, limited by species distribution data, most previous studies have only been carried out at regional scales (e.g., eastern Asia, Su et al, 2020) or only focused on a certain family of angiosperms (e.g., Rosaceae , Wang et al, 2021). Thus, currently, the effects of niche conservatism on species richness–climate relationships of all angiosperms remain to be verified at the global scale.…”

Ecology and not phylogeny influences sensitivity to climate change in Muscicapidae Flycatchers in Eastern Himalayan and Indo-Burman hotspots

“…Phylogenetic niche conservatism may explain various patterns in closely-related species such as divergence of foraging niches to avoid competition (Lovette and Hochachka, 2006), maintaining ancestral adaptation to certain environmental conditions (e.g., Morinière et al, 2016), and similarity in diversity-climate relationships (e.g., Wang et al, 2021).…”