Biogeography of species richness gradients: linking adaptive traits,demography and diversification |
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Authors: | Jofre Carnicer Lluís Brotons Constantí Stefanescu Josep Peñuelas |
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Institution: | 1. Community and Conservation Ecology Group, Centre for Life Sciences, Nijenborgh 7, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands;2. Global Ecology Unit CREAF‐CEAB‐CSIC, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Edifici C, Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain;3. àrea de Biodiversitat, Centre Tecnològic i Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC), Pujada del Seminari s/n, Solsona, Spain;4. Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, Museu Granollers‐Ciències Naturals, Francesc Macià 51, 08402 Granollers, Spain |
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Abstract: | Here we review how adaptive traits contribute to the emergence and maintenance of species richness gradients through their influence on demographic and diversification processes. We start by reviewing how demographic dynamics change along species richness gradients. Empirical studies show that geographical clines in population parameters and measures of demographic variability are frequent along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients. Demographic variability often increases at the extremes of regional species richness gradients and contributes to shape these gradients. Available studies suggest that adaptive traits significantly influence demographic dynamics, and set the limits of species distributions. Traits related to thermal tolerance, resource use, phenology and dispersal seem to play a significant role. For many traits affecting demography and/or diversification processes, complex mechanistic approaches linking genotype, phenotype and fitness are becoming progressively available. In several taxa, species can be distributed along adaptive trait continuums, i.e. a main axis accounting for the bulk of inter‐specific variation in some correlated adaptive traits. It is shown that adaptive trait continuums can provide useful mechanistic frameworks to explain demographic dynamics and diversification in species richness gradients. Finally, we review the existence of sequences of adaptive traits in phylogenies, the interactions of adaptive traits and community context, the clinal variation of traits across geographical gradients, and the role of adaptive traits in determining the history of dispersal and diversification of clades. Overall, we show that the study of demographic and evolutionary mechanisms that shape species richness gradients clearly requires the explicit consideration of adaptive traits. To conclude, future research lines and trends in the field are briefly outlined. |
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Keywords: | adaptive trait adaptive trait continuum behaviour clinal variation demographic variability diversification genomics phylogeny species richness gradient systems biology |
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