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Fleshy fruits – origins, niche shifts, and diversification
Author(s) -
Bolmgren Kjell,
Eriksson Ove
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
oikos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1600-0706
pISSN - 0030-1299
DOI - 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.12663.x
Subject(s) - biology , species richness , niche , frugivore , ecology , niche differentiation , habitat , clade , ecological niche , herbaceous plant , niche segregation , lineage (genetic) , phylogenetics , biochemistry , gene
We examined shifts in fruit type, fleshy vs non‐fleshy, in relation to habitat‐related niche shifts, species richness, and historical distribution, in 50 phylogenetically independent plant lineages. Each lineage consisted of a sister‐group pair of fleshy vs non‐fleshy taxa and their outgroup. Niche shifts were assessed based on plant community characteristics. Two niche dimensions assumed to reflect community dynamics were derived: spatial predictability of disturbances and canopy closure. Phylogenetically independent origins of fleshy fruit types (1) were correlated with changes to habitats characterized by more shaded and spatially more unpredictable disturbances, (2) had an opposite effect on species richness in woody and herbaceous clades, enhancing species richness in woody clades, and (3) were continuously distributed over a period covering the last 70 million years. These results support the hypothesis that fleshy fruit evolution is driven by vegetation dynamics, and suggest that the strength of frugivore mediated selection on fleshy fruits increases when recruitment sites are spatially unpredictable and/or characterized by low light conditions.