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Plant species radiations: where, when, why?

ABSTRACT: The spatial and temporal patterns of plant species radiations are largely unknown. I used a nonlinear regression to estimate speciation and extinction rates from all relevant dated clades. Both are surprisingly high. A high species richness can be the result of either little extinction, thus preserving the diversity that dates from older radiations (a 'mature radiation'), or a 'recent and rapid radiation'. The analysis of radiations from different regions (Andes, New Zealand, Australia, southwest Africa, tropics and Eurasia) revealed that the diversity of Australia may be largely the result of mature radiations. This is in sharp contrast to New Zealand, where the flora appears to be largely the result of recent and rapid radiations. Mature radiations are characteristic of regions that have been climatically and geologically stable throughout the Neogene, whereas recent and rapid radiations are more typical of younger (Pliocene) environments. The hyperdiverse Cape and Neotropical floras are the result of the combinations of mature as well as recent and rapid radiations. Both the areas contain stable environments (the Amazon basin and the Cape Fold Mountains) as well as dynamic landscapes (the Andes and the South African west coast). The evolution of diversity can only be understood in the context of the local environment.

SUBMITTER: Linder HP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2607312 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Plant species radiations: where, when, why?

Linder Hans Peter HP

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 20080901 1506

The spatial and temporal patterns of plant species radiations are largely unknown. I used a nonlinear regression to estimate speciation and extinction rates from all relevant dated clades. Both are surprisingly high. A high species richness can be the result of either little extinction, thus preserving the diversity that dates from older radiations (a 'mature radiation'), or a 'recent and rapid radiation'. The analysis of radiations from different regions (Andes, New Zealand, Australia, southwes ...[more]

PMID: 18579472

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Project description:BackgroundA large number of taxa have undergone evolutionary radiations in mountainous areas, rendering alpine systems particularly suitable to study the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that have shaped diversification patterns in plants. The species-rich genus Saxifraga L. is widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, with high species numbers in the regions adjacent to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) in particular the Hengduan Mountains and the Himalayas. Using a dataset of 297 taxa (representing at least 60% of extant Saxifraga species), we explored the variation of infrageneric diversification rates. In addition, we used state-dependent speciation and extinction models to test the effects of geographic distribution in the Hengduan Mountains and the entire QTP region as well as of two morphological traits (cushion habit and specialized lime-secreting glands, so-called hydathodes) on the diversification of this genus.ResultsWe detected two to three rate shifts across the Saxifraga phylogeny and two of these shifts led to radiations within two large subclades of Saxifraga, sect. Ciliatae Haworth subsect. Hirculoideae Engl. & Irmsch. and sect. Porphyrion Tausch subsect. Kabschia Engl. GEOSSE analyses showed that presence in the Hengduan Mountains had a positive effect on diversification across Saxifraga. Influence of these mountains was strongest in Saxifraga sect. Ciliatae subsect. Hirculoideae given its pronounced distribution there, and thus the radiation in this group can be classified at least partially as geographic. In contrast, the evolution of the cushion life form and lime-secreting hydathodes had positive effects on diversification only in selected Saxifraga sections, including sect. Porphyrion subsect. Kabschia. We therefore argue that radiation in this group was likely adaptive.ConclusionsOur study underlines the complexity of processes and factors underpinning plant radiations: Even in closely related lineages occupying the same life zone, shifts in diversification are not necessarily governed by similar factors. In conclusion, alpine plant radiations result from a complex interaction among geographical settings and/or climatic modifications providing key opportunities for diversification as well as the evolution of key innovations.

Project description:Background and aimsThe largest subfamily of orchids, Epidendroideae, represents one of the most significant diversifications among flowering plants in terms of pollination strategy, vegetative adaptation and number of species. Although many groups in the subfamily have been resolved, significant relationships in the tree remain unclear, limiting conclusions about diversification and creating uncertainty in the classification. This study brings together DNA sequences from nuclear, plastid and mitochrondrial genomes in order to clarify relationships, to test associations of key characters with diversification and to improve the classification.MethodsSequences from seven loci were concatenated in a supermatrix analysis for 312 genera representing most of epidendroid diversity. Maximum-likelihood and parsimony analyses were performed on this matrix and on subsets of the data to generate trees and to investigate the effect of missing values. Statistical character-associated diversification analyses were performed.Key resultsLikelihood and parsimony analyses yielded highly resolved trees that are in strong agreement and show significant support for many key clades. Many previously proposed relationships among tribes and subtribes are supported, and some new relationships are revealed. Analyses of subsets of the data suggest that the relatively high number of missing data for the full analysis is not problematic. Diversification analyses show that epiphytism is most strongly associated with diversification among epidendroids, followed by expansion into the New World and anther characters that are involved with pollinator specificity, namely early anther inflexion, cellular pollinium stalks and the superposed pollinium arrangement.ConclusionsAll tested characters show significant association with speciation in Epidendroideae, suggesting that no single character accounts for the success of this group. Rather, it appears that a succession of key features appeared that have contributed to diversification, sometimes in parallel.

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Plant species radiations: where, when, why?

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Plant species radiations: where, when, why?

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