CONVERGENT AND CORRELATED EVOLUTION OF MAJOR LIFE‐HISTORY TRAITS IN THE ANGIOSPERM GENUS LEUCADENDRON (PROTEACEAE) |
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Authors: | Jeanne Tonnabel Agnès Mignot Emmanuel J P Douzery Anthony G Rebelo Frank M Schurr Jeremy Midgley Nicola Illing Fabienne Justy Denis Orcel Isabelle Olivieri |
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Institution: | 1. Institut des Sciences de l’évolution de Montpellier, CNRS (UMR 5554), , 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France;2. Threatened Species Research Unit, South African National Biodiversity Institute, , Kirstenbosch, 7735 South Africa;3. Institute of Landscape and Plant Ecology, University of Hohenheim, , 70593 Stuttgart, Germany;4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, , Rondebosch, 7701 South Africa;5. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, , Rondebosch, 7701 South Africa |
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Abstract: | Natural selection is expected to cause convergence of life histories among taxa as well as correlated evolution of different life‐history traits. Here, we quantify the extent of convergence of five key life‐history traits (adult fire survival, seed storage, degree of sexual dimorphism, pollination mode, and seed‐dispersal mode) and test hypotheses about their correlated evolution in the genus Leucadendron (Proteaceae) from the fire‐prone South African fynbos. We reconstructed a new molecular phylogeny of this highly diverse genus that involves more taxa and molecular markers than previously. This reconstruction identifies new clades that were not detected by previous molecular study and morphological classifications. Using this new phylogeny and robust methods that account for phylogenetic uncertainty, we show that the five life‐history traits studied were labile during the evolutionary history of the genus. This diversity allowed us to tackle major questions about the correlated evolution of life‐history strategies. We found that species with longer seed‐dispersal distances tended to evolve lower pollen‐dispersal distance, that insect‐pollinated species evolved decreased sexual dimorphism, and that species with a persistent soil seed‐bank evolved toward reduced fire‐survival ability of adults. |
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Keywords: | Convergence correlated evolution dispersal fire Proteaceae resprouting seed banks sexual dimorphism |
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