Skip to main content

Evolutionary Macroecology and the Geographical Patterns of Neotropical Diversification

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes

Abstract

Over the last decades, the geographical distribution of species, as well as its associated patterns have been at the core of the macroecology research program. Gradients in geographic range size and shape, as well as range overlap (species richness), reveal broad-scale patterns that may help to infer underlying ecological processes, mainly related to climatic and environmental variation. However, it is clear now that evolutionary processes are at least equally important, demanding the inclusion of an evolutionary dimension to better understand such patterns. In this review, we discuss recent macroecological approaches to study evolutionary patterns at the geographical scale, and exemplify some of these approaches with data from a model group of Neotropical birds, the Furnariides.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Albert JS, Antonelli A (2017) Society for the study of systematic biology symposium: frontiers in parametric biogeography. Syst Biol 66:125–127

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Algar AC, Kerr JT, Currie DJ (2009) Evolutionary constraints on regional faunas: whom, but not how many. Ecol Lett 12:c57–c65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alves DMCC, Diniz-Filho JAF, Villalobos F (2017) Geographical diversification and the effect of model and data inadequacies: the bat diversity gradient as a case study. Biol J Linn Soc 121:894–906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arita HT, Vargas-Barón J, Villalobos F (2014) Latitudinal gradients of genus richness and endemism and the diversification of New World bats. Ecography 37:1024–1033

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker FK, Burns KJ, Klicka J et al (2015) New insights into New World biogeography: an integrated view from the phylogeny of blackbirds, cardinals, sparrows, tanagers, warblers, and allies. Auk 132:333–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnagaud JY, Kissling WD, Sandel B et al (2014) Ecological traits influence the phylogenetic structure of bird species co-occurrences worldwide. Ecol Lett 17:811–820

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown JH (2012) Why are there so many species in the tropics? J Biogeogr 41:8–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabral JS, Valente L, Hartig F (2017) Mechanistic simulation models in macroecology and biogeography: state-of-art and prospects. Ecography 40:267–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardillo M (2011) Phylogenetic structure of mammal assemblages at large geographical scales: linking phylogenetic community ecology with macroecology. Proc R Soc B 366:2545–2553

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardillo M, Meijaard E (2010) Phylogeny and co-occurrence of mammal species of southeast Asian islands. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 19:465–474

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardillo M, Gittleman JL, Purvis A (2008) Global patterns in the phylogenetic structure of island mammal assemblages. Proc R Soc B 275:1549–1556

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cavender-Bares J, Kozak HK, Fine PVA et al (2009) The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology. Ecol Lett 12:693–715

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cavender-Bares J, Ackerly DD, Kozak HK (2012) Integrating ecology and phylogenetics: the footprint of history in modern-day communities. Ecology 91:s1s3

    Google Scholar 

  • Claramunt S (2010) Discovering exceptional diversifications at continental scales: the case of the endemic families of neotropical suboscine passerines. Evolution 64:2004–2019

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claramunt S, Cracraft J (2015) A new time tree reveals Earth history’s imprint on the evolution of modern birds. Sci Adv 1:e1501005

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper N, Rodríguez J, Purvis A (2008) A common tendency for phylogenetic overdispersion in mammalian assemblages. Proc R Soc B 275:2031–2037

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper N, Thomas GH, FitzJohn RG (2016) Shedding light on the ‘dark side’ of phylogenetic comparative methods. Methods Ecol Evol 7:693–699

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Currie DJ, Mittelbach GG, Cornell HV et al (2004) Predictions and tests of climate-based hypotheses of broad-scale variation in taxonomic richness. Ecol Lett 7:1121–1134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies TJ, Buckley LB (2011) Phylogenetic diversity as a window into the evolutionary and biogeographic histories of present-day richness gradients for mammals. Philos Trans R Soc B 366:2414–2425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobzhansky TH (1937) Genetics and the origin of species. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Duarte LD, Debastiani VJ, Freitas AV, Pillar VD (2016) Dissecting phylogenetic fuzzy weighting: theory and application in metacommunity phylogenetics. Methods Ecol Evol 7:937–946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupin J, Matzke NJ, Särkinen T et al (2017) Bayesian estimation of the global biogeographical history of the Solanaceae. J Biogeogr 44:887–899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faith DP (2013) Biodiversity and evolutionary history: useful extensions of the PD phylogenetic diversity assessment framework. Ann NY Acad Sci 1298:69–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fine PVA (2015) Ecological and evolutionary drivers of geographic variation in species diversity. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 46:369–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritz SA, Rahbek C (2012) Global patterns of amphibian phylogenetic diversity. J Biogeogr 39:1373–1382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garamzegi LZ (ed) (2014) Modern phylogenetic comparative methods and their application in evolutionary biology: concepts and practice. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg EE, Lancaster LT, Ree RH (2011) Phylogenetic inference of reciprocal effects between geographic range evolution and diversification. Syst Biol 60:451–465

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Anderson MJ, Arita HT et al (2009) Patterns and causes of species richness: a general simulation model for macroecology. Ecol Lett 12:873–886

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham CH, Storch D, Machac A (2018) Phylogenetic scale in ecology and evolution. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 27:175–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA (2001) Ecology’s oldest pattern. Trends Ecol Evol 16:170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA, Diniz-Filho JAF (2004) ‘Latitude’ and geographic patterns in species richness. Ecography 27:268–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA, Field R, Cornell HV et al (2003) Energy, water, and broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness. Ecology 84:3105–3117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA, Diniz-Filho JAF, Jaramillo CA et al (2006) Post-Eocene climate change, niche conservatism, and the latitudinal diversity gradient of New World birds. J Biogeogr 33:770–780

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA, McCain CM, Davies TJ et al (2012) Different evolutionary histories underlie congruent species richness gradients of birds and mammals. J Biogeogr 39:825–841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins BA, Leroy B, Rodríguez MA et al (2017) Structural bias in aggregated species-level variables driven by repeated species co-occurrences: a pervasive problem in community and assemblage data. J Biogeogr 44:1199–1211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmus MR, Bland TJ, Williams CK et al (2007) Phylogenetic measures of biodiversity. Am Nat 169:e68–e83

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hillebrand H (2004) On the generality of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Am Nat 163:192–211

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jablonski D, Roy K, Valetine JW (2006) Out of the tropics: evolutionary dynamics of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Science 314:102–106

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jablonski D, Huang S, Roy K et al (2017) Shaping the latitudinal diversity gradients: new perspectives from a synthesis of paleobiology and biogeography. Am Nat 189:1–12

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jansson R, Rodríguez‐Castañeda G, Harding LE (2013) What can multiple phylogenies say about the latitudinal diversity gradient? a new look at the tropical conservatism, out of the tropics, and diversification rate hypotheses. Evolution 67(6):1741–1755

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jetz W, Thomas GH, Joy JB et al (2012) The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491:444–448

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy JD, Wang Z, Weir JT et al (2014) Into and out of the tropics: the generation of the latitudinal gradient among New World passerine birds. J Biogeogr 41:1746–1757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy JD, Price TD, Fjeldså J et al (2016) Historical limits on species co-occurrence determine variation in clade richness among New World passerine birds. J Biogeogr 44:736–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr JT, Currie DJ (1999) The relative importance of evolutionary and environmental controls on broad-scale patterns of species richness in North America. Ecoscience 6:329–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kissling WD, Dorman CF, Groeneveld J et al (2012) Towards novel approaches to modelling biotic interactions in multispecies assemblages at large spatial extents. J Biogeogr 39:2163–2178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lagomarsino LP, Condamine FL, Antonelli A et al (2016) The abiotic and biotic drivers of rapid diversification in Andean bellflowers (Campanulaceae). New Phytol 210:1430–1442

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Liow LH, Stenseth NC (2007) The rise and fall of species: implications for macroevolutionary and macroecological studies. Proc R Soc B 274:2745–2752

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maestri R, Luza AL, Barros LD, Hartz SM, Ferrari A, Freitas TR, Duarte LD (2016) Geographical variation of body size in sigmodontine rodents depends on both environment and phylogenetic composition of communities. J Biogeogr 43:1192–1202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller ET, Farine DR, Trisos CH (2017a) Phylogenetic community structure metrics and null models: a review with new methods and software. Ecography 40:461–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller ET, Wagner SK, Harmon LJ et al (2017b) Radiating despite a lack of character: ecological divergence among closely related, morphologically similar honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae) co-occurring in arid Australian environments. Am Nat 189:E14–E30

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mittelbach GG, Schemske DW, Cornell HV et al (2007) Evolution and the latitudinal diversity gradient: speciation, extinction and biogeography. Ecol Lett 10:315–331

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morales-Barbero J, Martinez PA, Ferrer-Castán D et al (2018) Quaternary refugia are associated with higher speciation rates in mammalian faunas of the western Palaearctic. Ecography 41:607–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morlon H (2014) Phylogenetic approaches for studying diversification. Ecol Lett 17:508–525

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien EM (2006) Biological relativity to water–energy dynamics. J Biogeogr 33:1868–1888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Meara BC, Beaulieu JM (2016) Past, future, and present of state-dependent models of diversification. Am J Bot 103:792–795

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olalla-Tárraga MA, Bini LM, Diniz-Filho JAF et al (2010) Cross-species and assemblage-based approaches to Bergmann’s rule and the biogeography of body size in Plethodon salamanders of eastern North America. Ecography 33:362–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Perez-Escobar OA, Chomicki G, Condamine FL et al (2017) Recent origin and rapid speciation of Neotropical orchids in the world’s richest plant biodiversity hotspot. New Phytol 215:891–905

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pianka ER (1966) Latitudinal gradients in species diversity: a review of concepts. Am Nat 100:33–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto-Ledezma JN, Simon L, Diniz-Filho JAF et al (2017) The geographic diversification of Furnariides: the role of forest versus open habitats in driving species richness gradients. J Biogeogr 44:1683–1693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto Ledezma JN, Jahn AE, Cueto VR, Diniz-Filho JAF, Villalobos F (2019) Drivers of phylogenetic assemblage structure of the furnariides, a widespread clade of lowland neotropical birds. Am Nat 193(2):E41–E56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pyron RA (2014) Biogeographic analysis reveals ancient continental vicariance and recent oceanic dispersal in amphibians. Syst Biol 63:779–797

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabosky DL (2014) Automatic detection of key innovations, rate shifts, and diversity dependence on phylogenetic trees. PLoS One 9:e89543

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabosky DL, Goldberg EE (2015) Model inadequacy and mistaken inference of trait-dependent speciation. Syst Biol 64:340–355

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rabosky DL, Title PO, Huang H (2015) Minimal effects of latitude on present-day speciation rates in New World birds. Proc R Soc B 282:20142889

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rahbek C, Gotelli N, Colwell RK, Entsminger GL, Rangel TFLVB, Graves GR (2007) Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models. Proc R Soc Lond B 274:165–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramiadantsoa T, Sirén J, Hanski I (2017) Phylogenetic comparative method for geographical radiation. Ann Zool Fenn 54:237–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rangel TFL, Diniz-Filho JAF, Colwell RK (2007) Species richness and evolutionary niche dynamics: a spatial pattern–oriented simulation experiment. Am Nat 170(4):602–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rangel TFR, Edwards RR, Holden PB et al (2018) Modeling the ecology and evolution of biodiversity: biogeographical cradles, museums, and graves. Science 361:eaar5452

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ricklefs RE (2002) Splendid isolation: historical ecology of the South American passerine fauna. J Avian Biol 33:207–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricklefs RE (2004) A comprehensive framework for global patterns in biodiversity. Ecol Lett 7:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridgely RS Allnutt TF, Brooks T, McNicol DK, Mehl-man DW, Young BE, Zook JR, BirdLife Inter- national (2012) Digital distribution maps of the birds of the Western Hemisphere, version 5.0. In BirdLife Interna- tional and NatureServe (2012) Bird species distribution maps of the world. Version 2.0. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK and Nature Serve, Arlington, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohde K (1992) Latitudinal gradients in species diversity: the search for the primary cause. Oikos 65:514–527

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolland J, Condamine FL, Jiguet F et al (2014) Faster speciation and reduced extinction in the tropics contribute to the mammalian latitudinal diversity gradient. PLoS Biol 12:e1001775

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rolland J, Condamine FL, Beeravolu CR et al (2015) Dispersal is a major driver of the latitudinal diversity gradient of Carnivora. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 24:1059–1071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronquist F, Sanmartín I (2011) Phylogenetic methods in biogeography. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 42:441–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schemske DW, Mittelbach GG (2017) Latitudinal gradients in species diversity: reflections on Pianka’s 1966 article and look forward. Am Nat 189:599–603

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schluter D, Pennel MW (2017) Speciation gradients and the distribution of biodiversity. Nature 546:48–55

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GG (1964) Species densities of North American recent mammals. Syst Zool 13:57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springer MS, Meredith RW, Janecka JE et al (2011) The historical biogeography of Mammalia. Philos Trans R Soc B 366:2478–2502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens RD, Tello JS, Gavilanez MM (2013) Stronger tests of mechanisms underlying geographic gradients of biodiversity: insights from the dimensionality of biodiversity. PLoS One 8:e56853

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker CM, Cadotte MW, Carvalho SB et al (2016) A guide to phylogenetic metrics for conservation, community ecology and macroecology. Biol Rev 92:698–715

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vamosi SM, Heard SB, Vamosi JC et al (2009) Emerging patterns in comparative analysis of phylogenetic community structure. Mol Ecol 18:572–592

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Villalobos F, Rangel TF, Diniz-Filho JAF (2013) Phylogenetic fields of species: cross-species patterns of phylogenetic structure and geographical coexistence. Proc R Soc B 280:20122570

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Villalobos F, Olalla-Tarraga MA, Cianciaruso MV, Rangel TF, Diniz-Filho JAF (2017) Global patterns of mammalian co-occurrence: phylogenetic and body size structure within species ranges. J Biogeogr 44:136–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Volkamp A, Baker DJ, Stephens PA et al (2017) Global patterns in the divergence between phylogenetic diversity and species richness in terrestrial birds. J Biogeogr 44:709–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb CO, Ackerly DD, McPeek MA et al (2002) Phylogenies and community ecology. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 33:475–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JJ, Donoghue MJ (2004) Historical biogeography, ecology and species richness. Trends Ecol Evol 19:639–644

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JJ, Pyron RA, Moen DS (2011) Phylogenetic origins of local-scale diversity patterns and the causes of Amazonian megadiversity. Ecol Lett 14:643–652

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Work by FV and JAFDF has been supported by several grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil. FV is currently supported by CONACYT, Mexico. JNP-L. is supported by the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences’ Grand Challenges in Biology Postdoctoral Program. This chapter is also developed in the context of National Institutes for Science and Technology (INCT) in Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, supported by MCTIC/CNPq (proc. 465610/2014-5) and FAPEG (proc. 201810267000023).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Villalobos, F., Pinto-Ledezma, J.N., Diniz-Filho, J.A.F. (2020). Evolutionary Macroecology and the Geographical Patterns of Neotropical Diversification. In: Rull, V., Carnaval, A. (eds) Neotropical Diversification: Patterns and Processes. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31167-4_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics