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Dryad

Data from: Biotic invasion, niche stability, and the assembly of regional biotas in deep time: comparison between faunal provinces

Cite this dataset

Patzkowsky, Mark E.; Holland, Steven M. (2016). Data from: Biotic invasion, niche stability, and the assembly of regional biotas in deep time: comparison between faunal provinces [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.r0j3s

Abstract

Biotic invasions in the fossil record provide natural experiments for testing hypotheses of niche stability, speciation, and the assembly and diversity of regional biotas. We compare ecologic parameters (preferred environment, occupancy, median abundance, rank abundance) of genera shared between faunal provinces during the Richmondian Biotic Invasion in the Late Ordovician on the Laurentian continent. Genera that spread from one faunal province to the other during the invasion (invading shared genera) have high Spearman rank correlations (>0.5) in three of four ecologic parameters, suggesting a high level of niche stability among invaders. Genera that existed in both regions prior to and following the invasion (non-invading shared genera) have low correlations (<0.3) and suggest niche shift between lineages that diverged at least 8 Myr earlier. Niche shift did not accumulate gradually over this time interval, but appears to have occurred in a pulse associated with the onset of the Taconic orogeny and the switch from warm-water to cool-water carbonates in southern Laurentia.

Usage notes

Location

Indiana
Wyoming
Cincinnati Arch
Kentucky
Ohio
Bighorn Mountains