Data from: The ecological dynamics of clade diversification and community assembly
Data files
Apr 24, 2009 version files 284.16 KB
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Electronic Supplement of Data.xls
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Abstract
Clades diversify in an ecological context, but most macroevolutionary
models do not directly encapsulate ecological mechanisms that influence speciation and extinction. A data set of 245 chordate, arthropod, mollusk, and magnoliophyte phylogenies had
a majority of clades that showed rapid lineage accumulation early
with a slowing more recently, whereas a small but significantminority
showed accelerated lineage accumulation in their recent histories.
Previous analyses have demonstrated that macroevolutionary birthdeath
models can replicate the pattern of slowing lineage accumulation
only by a strong decrease in speciation rate with increasing
species richness and extinction rate held extremely low or absent. In
contrast, the metacommunity model presented here could generate
the full range of patterns seen in the real phylogenies by simply
manipulating the degree of ecological differentiation of new species
at the time of speciation. Specifically, the metacommunity model
predicts that clades showing decelerating lineage accumulation rates are those that have diversified by ecological modes of speciation, whereas clades showing accelerating lineage accumulation rates are those that have diversified primarily by modes of speciation that generate little or no ecological diversification. A number of testable predictions that integrate data from molecular systematics, community ecology, and biogeography are also discussed.