Contrasted patterns of hyperdiversification in Mediterranean hotspots

Dating the Tree of Life has now become central to relating patterns of biodiversity to key processes in Earth history such as plate tectonics and climate change. Regions with a Mediterranean climate have long been noted for their exceptional species richness and high endemism. How and when these bio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2009-01, Vol.106 (1), p.221-225
Main Authors: Sauquet, Hervé, Weston, Peter H, Anderson, Cajsa Lisa, Barker, Nigel P, Cantrill, David J, Mast, Austin R, Savolainen, Vincent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
biodiversity hotspots
Biologi
Biological Sciences
Biological taxonomies
Biology
botanical composition
Calibration
Cape Floristic Region
Climate
diversification rates
Evolution
Extinct species
Flowers & plants
fossil calibration
Fossils
Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean Region
molecular dating
NATURAL SCIENCES
NATURVETENSKAP
Paleobotany
paleoecology
palynology
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
plant ecology
plants
Proteaceae
Southwest Australia
Speciation
species diversity
Species extinction
Taxa
Time
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Summary:Dating the Tree of Life has now become central to relating patterns of biodiversity to key processes in Earth history such as plate tectonics and climate change. Regions with a Mediterranean climate have long been noted for their exceptional species richness and high endemism. How and when these biota assembled can only be answered with a good understanding of the sequence of divergence times for each of their components. A critical aspect of dating by using molecular sequence divergence is the incorporation of multiple suitable age constraints. Here, we show that only rigorous phylogenetic analysis of fossil taxa can lead to solid calibration and, in turn, stable age estimates, regardless of which of 3 relaxed clock-dating methods is used. We find that Proteaceae, a model plant group for the Mediterranean hotspots of the Southern Hemisphere with a very rich pollen fossil record, diversified under higher rates in the Cape Floristic Region and Southwest Australia than in any other area of their total distribution. Our results highlight key differences between Mediterranean hotspots and indicate that Southwest Australian biota are the most phylogenetically diverse but include numerous lineages with low diversification rates.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0805607106