Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

The dimensions of species diversity

Matthew J. Larcombe, Gregory J. Jordan, David Bryant, Steven I. Higgins
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/400481
Matthew J. Larcombe
1Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Gregory J. Jordan
2School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David Bryant
3Department of Maths and Statistics, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Steven I. Higgins
1Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
4Plant Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Diversification processes underpin the patterns of species diversity that fascinate biologists. Two competing hypotheses disagree about the effect of competition on these processes. The bounded hypothesis suggests that species diversity is limited (bounded) by competition between species for finite niche space, while the unbounded hypothesis proposes that evolution and ecological opportunity associated with speciation, render competition unimportant. We use phylogenetically structured niche modelling, to show that processes consistent with both these diversification models have driven species accumulation in conifers. In agreement with the bounded hypothesis, niche competition constrained diversification, and in line with the unbounded hypothesis, niche evolution and partitioning promoted diversification. We then analyse niche traits to show that these diversification enhancing and inhibiting processes can occur simultaneously on different niche dimensions. Together these results suggests a new hypothesis for lineage diversification based on the multi-dimensional nature of ecological niches that accommodates both bounded and unbounded diversification processes.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted August 26, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The dimensions of species diversity
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
The dimensions of species diversity
Matthew J. Larcombe, Gregory J. Jordan, David Bryant, Steven I. Higgins
bioRxiv 400481; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/400481
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
The dimensions of species diversity
Matthew J. Larcombe, Gregory J. Jordan, David Bryant, Steven I. Higgins
bioRxiv 400481; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/400481

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3602)
  • Biochemistry (7569)
  • Bioengineering (5523)
  • Bioinformatics (20790)
  • Biophysics (10328)
  • Cancer Biology (7980)
  • Cell Biology (11638)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6603)
  • Ecology (10202)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13617)
  • Genetics (9541)
  • Genomics (12847)
  • Immunology (7920)
  • Microbiology (19541)
  • Molecular Biology (7657)
  • Neuroscience (42095)
  • Paleontology (308)
  • Pathology (1258)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2202)
  • Physiology (3267)
  • Plant Biology (7041)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1294)
  • Synthetic Biology (1951)
  • Systems Biology (5426)
  • Zoology (1117)