Scale‐dependent shifts in functional and phylogenetic structure of Mediterranean island plant communities over two centuries

Journal of Ecology, Journal Year: 2021, Volume and Issue: 109(10), P. 3513 - 3523

Published: June 23, 2021

Abstract Since the Industrial Revolution, rapid global population and economic expansion have had tremendous impacts on biodiversity across spatial scales, especially for islands. While changes in species richness are easily inferred, impact of human activity underlying community assembly processes has been difficult to ascertain because lack long‐term data. Here, we document how manifestations plant changed over time space a Mediterranean archipelago, using dataset composition 16 Tuscan islands sampled two centuries. The structure island communities was assessed by integrating species' trait evolutionary distances. We found that, with increasing area, functional phylogenetic shifted from clustered early (1830–1950) overdispersed more recently (1951–2015). On large islands, extirpated were generally phylogenetically or functionally similar remaining residents than expected chance, while colonists distantly related residents. extinction colonization dissimilar drove towards overdispersion. Synthesis . provide evidence that dramatically following increased during last centuries, this change is shaped scale dependency extinctions colonizations. Our results reveal accelerated replacements closely distant time, reflecting which could alter functioning ecosystems future.

Language: Английский

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Predicting ecosystem metaphenome from community metagenome: A grand challenge for environmental biology

Ecology and Evolution, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 13(3)

Published: March 1, 2023

Elucidating how an organism's characteristics emerge from its DNA sequence has been one of the great triumphs biology. This triumph cumulated in sophisticated computational models that successfully predict detailed phenotype emerges specific genotype. Inspired by effort's vision and empowered methodologies, a grand challenge is described here aims to biotic ecosystem, metaphenome, nucleic acid sequences all species community, metagenome. Meeting this would integrate rapidly advancing abilities environmental acids (eDNA eRNA) identify organisms, their ecological interactions, evolutionary relationships with advances mechanistic complex ecosystems. Addressing help ecology biology into more unified predictive science can better describe manage ecosystems services they provide humanity.

Language: Английский

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Comparison of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity of pitcher plant bogs in Georgia’s Coastal Plain

Plant Ecology, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 224(5), P. 523 - 537

Published: April 19, 2023

Language: Английский

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A generalized framework to expand incomplete phylogenies using non‐molecular phylogenetic information

Global Ecology and Biogeography, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 32(10), P. 1707 - 1716

Published: July 18, 2023

Abstract Aim The increasing availability of molecular information has lifted our understanding species evolutionary relationships to unprecedent levels. However, current estimates the world's biodiversity suggest that about a fifth all extant are yet be described, and we still lack for many known species. Hence, biologists will have tackle phylogenetic uncertainty long time come. This prospect urged development software expand phylogenies based on non‐molecular information, while available tools provide some valuable features, major drawbacks persist proposed solutions hardly generalizable any group organisms. Innovation Here, present completely generalized flexible framework incomplete phylogenies. is implemented in R package “randtip”, toolkit functions was designed randomly bind phylogenetically uncertain taxa backbone through fully customizable automatic procedure uses taxonomic ranks as source information. Although randtip can generate operative organisms using just list tree, stress “blind” expansion “quick‐and‐dirty” approaches often leads suboptimal solutions. Thus, discuss variety circumstances may require customizing simulation parameters beyond default settings optimally trees, including detailed step‐by‐step tutorial guidelines non‐specialist users. Main Conclusions Phylogenetic should tackled with caution, assessing potential pitfalls opportunities optimize parameter space prior launch simulation. Used judiciously, help efficiently thereby account quantitative analyses.

Language: Английский

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Phylogenetic diversity only weakly mitigates climate‐change‐driven biodiversity loss in insect communities

Molecular Ecology, Journal Year: 2022, Volume and Issue: 32(23), P. 6147 - 6160

Published: Oct. 22, 2022

To help address the underrepresentation of arthropods and Asian biodiversity from climate-change assessments, we carried out year-long, weekly sampling campaigns with Malaise traps at different elevations latitudes in Gaoligongshan National Park southwestern China. From these 623 samples, barcoded 10,524 beetles compared scenarios climate-change-induced loss, by designating seasonal, elevational, latitudinal subsets as communities that plausibly could go extinct a group, which call "loss sets". The availability published mitochondrial-genome-based phylogeny Coleoptera allowed us to compare loss species diversity without accounting for phylogenetic relatedness. We hypothesised relatedness would mitigate extinction, since extinction any set result disappearance all its but only part evolutionary history, is still extant remaining sets. found patterns community clustering season latitude, depending on whether information was incorporated. However, slightly mitigated amount under climate change scenarios, against our expectations: there no "escape clause" conservation. achieve same results derived mitogenome or de novo barcode-gene tree. encourage interested researchers use this data study lineage-specific assembly conjunction life-history traits environmental covariates.

Language: Английский

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