Topography-driven isolation, speciation and a global increase of endemism with elevation

Autor(en)

Manuel J. Steinbauer, Richard Field, John-Arvid Grytnes, Panayiotis Trigas, Claudine Ah-Peng, Fabio Attorre, H. John B. Birks, Paulo A. V. Borges, Pedro Cardoso, Chang-Hung Chou, Michele De Sanctis, Miguel M. de Sequeira, Maria C. Duarte, Rui B. Elias, Jose Maria Fernandez-Palacios, Rosalina Gabriel, Roy E. Gereau, Rosemary G. Gillespie, Josef Greimler, David E. V. Harter, Tsurng-Juhn Huang, Severin D. H. Irl, Daniel Jeanmonod, Anke Jentsch, Alistair S. Jump, Christoph Kueffer, Sandra Nogue, Rudiger Otto, Jonathan Price, Maria M. Romeiras, Dominique Strasberg, Tod Stuessy, Jens-Christian Svenning, Ole R. Vetaas, Carl Beierkuhnlein

Abstrakt

Aim: Higher-elevation areas on islands and continental mountains tend to be separated by longer distances, predicting higher endemism at higher elevations; our study is the first to test the generality of the predicted pattern. We also compare it empirically with contrasting expectations from hypotheses invoking higher speciation with area, temperature and species richness. Location: Thirty-two insular and 18 continental elevational gradients from around the world. Methods: We compiled entire floras with elevation-specific occurrence information, and calculated the proportion of native species that are endemic (‘percent endemism’) in 100-m bands, for each of the 50 elevational gradients. Using generalized linear models, we tested the relationships between percent endemism and elevation, isolation, temperature, area and species richness. Results: Percent endemism consistently increased monotonically with elevation, globally. This was independent of richness–elevation relationships, which had varying shapes but decreased with elevation at high elevations. The endemism–elevation relationships were consistent with isolation-related predictions, but inconsistent with hypotheses related to area, richness and temperature. Main conclusions: Higher per-species speciation rates caused by increasing isolation with elevation are the most plausible and parsimonious explanation for the globally consistent pattern of higher endemism at higher elevations that we identify. We suggest that topography-driven isolation increases speciation rates in mountainous areas, across all elevations and increasingly towards the equator. If so, it represents a mechanism that may contribute to generating latitudinal diversity gradients in a way that is consistent with both present-day and palaeontological evidence.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Astrophysik, Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Bayreuth, Aarhus University, University of Nottingham, University of Bergen (UiB), Agricultural University of Athens, Université de La Réunion, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, University College London, University of the Azores (UAc), University of Helsinki, China Medical University, Universidade da Madeira, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade de Lisboa, Universidad de La Laguna, Missouri Botanical Garden, University of California, Berkeley, Universität Genf, Conservatoire et jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève, University of Stirling, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, University of Oxford, University of Southampton, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Ohio State University

Journal

Global Ecology and Biogeography: a Journal of Macroecology

Band

25

Seiten

1097-1107

Anzahl der Seiten

11

ISSN

1466-822X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12469

Publikationsdatum

09-2016

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

106008 Botanik, 106013 Genetik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Global and Planetary Change, Ecology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/24ff9424-2de8-4b6a-8799-2cc5f2b5d44f