Global analysis reveals that cryptic diversity is linked with habitat but not mode of life

The ubiquity of genetically distinct, cryptic species is limiting any attempt to estimate local or global biodiversity as well as impeding efforts to conserve species or control pests and diseases. Environmental factors or biological traits promoting rapid diversification into morphologically simila...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2017-03, Vol.30 (3), p.641-649
Main Authors: Poulin, R., Pérez‐Ponce de León, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic habitats
Biodiversity
Biology
Conservation
Conservation biology
Cryptic species
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Differentiation
Diseases
diversification
DNA
DNA sequences
Ecosystem
Environmental factors
Fragmentation
Freshwater environments
Gene sequencing
Genetic Variation
Habitats
Heterogeneity
Host-Parasite Interactions
Hypotheses
Inhabitants
Metazoa
Nucleotide sequence
Origins
Parasites
Parasitic diseases
parasitism
Pests
Phylogeny
Reviews
Searching
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Taxa
taxonomy
Terrestrial environments
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Summary:The ubiquity of genetically distinct, cryptic species is limiting any attempt to estimate local or global biodiversity as well as impeding efforts to conserve species or control pests and diseases. Environmental factors or biological traits promoting rapid diversification into morphologically similar species remain unclear. Here, using a meta‐analysis of 1230 studies using DNA sequences to search for cryptic diversity in metazoan taxa, we test two hypotheses regarding the frequency of cryptic taxa based on mode of life and habitat. First, after correcting for study effort and accounting for higher taxonomic affinities and biogeographical region of origins, our results do not support the hypothesis that cryptic taxa are more frequent among parasitic than free‐living taxa. Second, in contrast, the results support the hypothesis that cryptic taxa are more common in certain habitats than others: for a given study effort, more cryptic taxa are found in freshwater than in terrestrial or marine taxa. These findings suggest that the greater heterogeneity and fragmentation of freshwater habitats may promote higher rates of genetic differentiation among its inhabitants, a general pattern with serious implications for freshwater conservation biology.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/jeb.13034