Animal-mediated seed dispersal by frugivorous birds and mammals is central to the ecology and functioning of ecosystems, but whether and how frugivory-related traits have affected plant speciation remains little explored. Fruit size is directly linked to plant dispersal capacity and therefore influences gene flow and genetic divergence of plant populations. Using a global species-level phylogeny with comprehensive data on fruit sizes and plant species distributions, we test whether fruit size has affected speciation rates of palms (Arecaceae), a plant family characteristic of tropical rainforests. Globally, the results reveal that palms with small fruit sizes have increased speciation rates compared with those with large (megafaunal) fruits. Speciation of small-fruited palms is particularly high in the understory of tropical rainforests in the New World, and on islands in the Old World. This suggests that frugivory-related traits in combination with geography and the movement behaviour of frugivores can influence the speciation of fleshy-fruited plants.
Palm functional traits as used in Onstein et al. NatEcolEvol
Trait data for 1774 palm species used in Onstein et al. "Frugivory-related traits promote speciation of tropical palms" published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. These traits include fruit size (binary, 1 = small fruits < 4 cm, 0 = large, megafaunal fruits > 4 cm), understory growth form (binary, 1 = understory growth form, 0 = non understory growth form, i.e. canopy), island distribution (binary, i.e. 1 = species occurs on oceanic or atoll island, 0 = species occurs on mainland or continental island), realm (binary, New World or Old World). These traits can be used to perform Binary State Speciation and Extinction (BiSSE) and Multiple State Speciation and Extinction (MuSSE) analyses as done in this study.
traits_Onstein_et_al.csv
BiSSE_script
R script to perform the Binary State Speciation and Extinction (BiSSE) analysis as done in Onstein et al. "Frugivory-related traits promote speciation of tropical palms" published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
MuSSE_script
R script to perform the Multiple State Speciation and Extinction model (MuSSE multistate) analyses as done in Onstein et al. "Frugivory-related traits promote speciation of tropical palms" published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Palm MCC phylogenetic tree
Palm (Arecaceae) Maximum Clade Credibility (MCC) phylogenetic tree based on data from Faurby, S., Eiserhardt, W. L., Baker, W. J. & Svenning, J.-C. An all-evidence species-level supertree for the palms (Arecaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100, 57-69, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.03.002 (2016). This tree was used in Onstein et al. "Frugivory-related traits promote speciation of tropical palms" published in Nature Ecology and Evolution and can be used to perform the BiSSE and MuSSE analyses.
TREE
Palm 100 phylogenetic trees
100 palm (Arecaceae) trees from Faurby, S., Eiserhardt, W. L., Baker, W. J. & Svenning, J.-C. An all-evidence species-level supertree for the palms (Arecaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100, 57-69, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.03.002 (2016). These trees were used in Onstein et al. "Frugivory-related traits promote speciation of tropical palms" published in Nature Ecology and Evolution to perform the BiSSE and MuSSE analyses.
TREES.nex