Phylogeography and niche modelling: reciprocal enlightenment

Abstract

Phylogeography examines the spatial genetic structure of species. Environmental niche modelling (or ecological niche modelling; ENM) examines the environmental limits of a species’ ecological niche. These two fields have great potential to be used together. ENM can shed light on how phylogeographical patterns develop and help identify possible drivers of spatial structure that need to be further investigated. Specifically, ENM can be used to test for niche differentiation among clades, identify factors limiting individual clades and identify barriers and contact zones. It can also be used to test hypotheses regarding the effects of historical and future climate change on spatial genetic patterns by projecting niches using palaeoclimate or future climate data. Conversely, phylogeographical information can populate ENM with within-species genetic diversity. Where adaptive variation exists among clades within a species, modelling their niches separately can improve predictions of historical distribution patterns and future responses to climate change. Awareness of patterns of genetic diversity in niche modelling can also alert conservationists to the potential loss of genetically diverse areas in a species’ range. Here, we provide a simplistic overview of both fields, and focus on their potential for integration, encouraging researchers on both sides to take advantage of the opportunities available.

Revealing the role of past and current climate in shaping the distribution of two parapatric European bats, Myotis daubentonii and M. capaccinii

“…The climate-based HSMs' current-to-past projections reported biogeographic assets which agree with the general glacial and post-glacial trends found for many species other than bats, thus giving new insights for the interpretation of the current distributions for this taxon. Complementary approaches confirmed our findings, giving interesting insights about the concurrent use and implementation of techniques (Peterson 2009;Pahad et al 2020).…”

Differentiated historical demography and ecological niche forming present distribution and genetic structure in coexisting two salamanders (Amphibia, Urodela, Hynobiidae) in a small island, Japan

“…Recently, molecular analysis and ecological niche models (ENMs) at the population level have been integrated as a powerful approach to reveal the historical distribution formation and population dynamics that might shape the current distribution ( Chang et al, 2012 ; Pahad, Montgelard & Jansen Van Vuuren, 2019 ; Ren et al, 2020 ). ENMs have been widely used for predicting the ecological niche of species at different scale of space and time.…”

“…On the other hand, populational genetic data can reveal genetic diversity and structure of species and estimate the demographic dynamics ( Tominaga et al, 2013 ; Jeon et al, 2021 ). Consequently, the integration of these approaches has supported each other and shed enlightenment on the evolutionary process of species ( Pahad, Montgelard & Jansen Van Vuuren, 2019 ). However, most of these studies studied a large geographic range and a few studies on a small island were conducted ( e.g ., Igawa et al, 2013 ).…”

Niche differentiation in a postglacial colonizer, the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus

“…Such studies indicated that niche differentiation between subspecies and intraspecific phylogenetic lineages may not be uncommon (D’Amen et al., 2013; Gutiérrez‐Rodríguez et al., 2017; Hällfors et al., 2016; Homburg et al., 2014; Ikeda et al., 2017; Jaime et al., 2014; Martínez‐Gordillo et al., 2010; Razgour et al., 2019; Schwalm et al., 2016; Serra‐Varela et al., 2017; Theodoridis et al., 2018). Nevertheless, as intraspecific‐level ENM still represents a small fraction of all ENM studies hitherto conducted (Chardon et al., 2020), the evolutionary and biogeographical significance of ecological niche differences within species remains poorly understood (Pahad et al., 2020).…”