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How bird clades diversify in response to climatic and geographic factors
Author(s) -
RodríguezCastañeda Genoveva,
Hof Anouschka R.,
Jansson Roland
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12809
Subject(s) - ecology , ecological niche , species richness , niche , clade , biology , predictability , diversification (marketing strategy) , latitude , habitat , extinction (optical mineralogy) , geography , phylogenetics , biochemistry , physics , geodesy , quantum mechanics , marketing , business , gene , paleontology
While the environmental correlates of global patterns in standing species richness are well understood, it is poorly known which environmental factors promote diversification (speciation minus extinction) in clades. We tested several hypotheses for how geographic and climatic variables should affect diversification using a large dataset of bird sister genera endemic to the New World. We found support for the area, evolutionary speed, environmental predictability and climatic stability hypotheses, but productivity and topographic complexity were rejected as explanations. Genera that had accumulated more species tend to occupy wider niche space, manifested both as occurrence over wider areas and in more habitats. Genera with geographic ranges that have remained more stable in response to glacial‐interglacial changes in climate were also more species rich. Since many relevant explanatory variables vary latitudinally, it is crucial to control for latitude when testing alternative mechanistic explanations for geographic variation in diversification among clades.

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