Effects of climate and environmental heterogeneity on the phylogenetic structure of regional angiosperm floras worldwide

The tendency of species to retain ancestral ecological distributions (phylogenetic niche conservatism) is thought to influence which species from a species pool can persist in a particular environment. Thus, investigating the relationships between measures of phylogenetic structure and environmental variables at a global scale can help understand the variation in species richness and phylogenetic structure in biological assemblages across the world. Here, we analyze a comprehensive data set including 341,846 species in 391 angiosperm floras worldwide to explore the relationships between measures of phylogenetic structure and environmental variables for angiosperms in regional floras across the world and for each of individual continental (biogeographic) regions. We find that the global phylogenetic structure of angiosperms shows clear and meaningful relationships with environmental factors. Current climatic variables have the highest predictive power, especially on phylogenetic metrics reflecting recent evolutionary relationships that are also related to current environmental heterogeneity, presumably because this favors plant speciation in various ways. We also find evidence that past climatic conditions, and particularly refugial conditions, play an important role in determining the phylogenetic structure of regional floras. The relationships between environmental conditions and phylogenetic metrics differ between continents, reflecting the different evolutionary histories of their floras

Angiosperm phylogenetic diversity is lower in Africa than South America

Although originating from a common Gondwanan flora, the diversity and composition of the floras of Africa and South America have greatly diverged since continental breakup of Africa from South America now having much higher plant species richness. However, the phylogenetic diversity of the floras and what this tells us about their evolution remained unexplored. We show that for a given species richness and considering land surface area, topography, and present-day climate, angiosperm phylogenetic diversity in South America is higher than in Africa. This relationship holds regardless of whether all climatically matched areas or only matched areas in tropical climates are considered. Phylogenetic diversity is high relative to species richness in refugial areas in Africa and in northwestern South America, once the gateway for immigration from the north. While species richness is strongly influenced by massive plant radiations in South America, we detect a pervasive influence of historical processes on the phylogenetic diversity of both the South American and African floras

Benefit versus cost trade-offs of masting across seed-to-seedling transition for a dominant subtropical forest species

Masting is a common reproductive strategy regulating seedling regeneration in many perennial plant species. The evolutionary origins and functional benefits of masting have been explained by well-supported hypotheses relating to economies of scale of seed production. Nevertheless, our understanding of the potential costs of masting for the plant seed-to-seedling transitions remains limited. We tracked the seed fate and documented changes in the seed spatial distribution patterns during the seed-to-seedling transition process of Castanopsis fargesii, a dominant species of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in China under natural conditions for more than 6 years. Masting resulted in a high proportion of seeds escaping predation by vertebrates and rodents, supporting the predator satiation hypothesis. However, it increased the pre-dispersal seed predation by insects, and decreased the seed germination rate due to a negative effect on seed mass. This resulted in seed-to-seedling transition rates during mast years to be roughly half as much as during non-mast years. In addition, masting negatively affected the spatial rearrangement of seeds, resulting in a spatial aggregative distribution pattern of newly germinated seedlings. The combined negative effects of smaller seeds and spatially aggregated seedlings reduced the survival rate of newly germinated seedlings at seedling establishment stage. Synthesis. Considering the whole seed-to-established seedling transition process, the benefits of masting on seedling recruitment due to the effective seed predator situation by vertebrates and rodents were decreased by the additional costs on seed mass, seed germination, seed spatial arrangement and seedling establishment. Our results highlight the importance of considering both the positive and negative effects of masting at each stage of the seed-to-seedling transition. Inferences based on seed predation and recruitment of newly germinated seedlings alone would lead to an overly optimistic conclusion about the benefits of masting. © 2021 British Ecological Societ

Effects of climate and environmental heterogeneity on the phylogenetic structure of regional angiosperm floras worldwide

Abstract The tendency of species to retain ancestral ecological distributions (phylogenetic niche conservatism) is thought to influence which species from a species pool can persist in a particular environment. Thus, investigating the relationships between measures of phylogenetic structure and environmental variables at a global scale can help understand the variation in species richness and phylogenetic structure in biological assemblages across the world. Here, we analyze a comprehensive data set including 341,846 species in 391 angiosperm floras worldwide to explore the relationships between measures of phylogenetic structure and environmental variables for angiosperms in regional floras across the world and for each of individual continental (biogeographic) regions. We find that the global phylogenetic structure of angiosperms shows clear and meaningful relationships with environmental factors. Current climatic variables have the highest predictive power, especially on phylogenetic metrics reflecting recent evolutionary relationships that are also related to current environmental heterogeneity, presumably because this favors plant speciation in various ways. We also find evidence that past climatic conditions, and particularly refugial conditions, play an important role in determining the phylogenetic structure of regional floras. The relationships between environmental conditions and phylogenetic metrics differ between continents, reflecting the different evolutionary histories of their floras

Global patterns and ecological drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic endemism in angiosperm genera

Endemism of lineages lies at the core of understanding variation in community composition among geographic regions because it reflects how speciation, extinction, and dispersal have influenced current distributions. Here, we investigated geographic patterns and ecological drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic endemism of angiosperm genera across the world. We identify centers of paleo-endemism and neo-endemism of angiosperm genera, and show that they are mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly in Asia and Australia. Different categories of phylogenetic endemism centers can be differentiated using current climate conditions. Current climate, historical climate change, and geographic variables together explained ∼80% of global variation in taxonomic and phylogenetic endemism, while 42−46%, 1%, and 15% were independently explained by these three types of variables, respectively. Thus our findings show that past climate change, current climate, and geography act together in shaping endemism, which are consistent with the findings of previous studies that higher temperature and topographic heterogeneity promote endemism. Our study showed that many centers of phylogenetic endemism of angiosperms, including regions in Amazonia, Venezuela, and west-central tropical Africa that have not previously been identified as biodiversity hotspots, are missed by taxon-based measures of endemism, indicating the importance of including evolutionary history in biodiversity assessment

Identifying urban rewilding opportunity spaces in a metropolis: Chongqing as an example

The worldwide urbanization has resulted in a massive loss of natural habitats, which is threatening biodiversity and socio-ecological sustainability. Urban rewilding is a strategy aiming to restore the complexity, autonomy and self-sustainability of urban ecosystems by interlinking ecological processes while minimizing or gradually reducing human disturbances. The benefits of urban rewilding are widely acknowledged; however, there remains a knowledge gap concerning the identification of suitable locations for urban rewilding and the methodologies for assessing the rewilding potential of urban areas. In this study, we proposed an approach that can be used to accurately identify urban rewilding opportunity spaces (UROS, the existing wildness areas and spaces offering ecological conditions conducive to the establishment of new urban wildness), by integrating data on spatial heterogeneity, biodiversity and human disturbance. UROS in Chongqing, China was evaluated and mapped at the city-wide scale, with a subsequent validation of the UROS results through an assessment of species richness of spontaneous herbaceous communities, which serve as the pioneer species in rewilding processes. The results revealed a positive correlation between high-scoring UROS and increased species richness of spontaneous herbs, thus confirming the feasibility of the UROS assessment method. Eleven primary types of UROS were identified, with the majority displaying scattered or linear distributions. Most very high-scoring UROS are characterized by expansive woodland expanses situated on the outskirts of high-density built-up areas and substantial water bodies within the built-up urban areas. Notably, nearly half of the UROS encompass areas of 900 m2 or less, underscoring the importance of urban rewilding initiatives targeting not only the preservation of extensive UROS with robust connectivity but also the revitalization of fragmented UROS with limited areas situated within central urban regions. The methodology is applicable to offer insights and spatial guidance in the execution of urban rewilding initiatives and biodiversity conservation efforts, contributing to sustainable regional development in the context of rapid urbanization

Academic inequality through the lens of community ecology: a meta-analysis

Ecological assemblages are generally characterized by a few dominant species and numerous others. Such unequal distributions of dominance also emerge in human society, including in scientific communities. Here, based on formal community ecological analyses, we show the temporal trends in the number of scientific publication in the discipline of “ecology.” Based on this, we infer possible factors causing the imbalance of reputation and dominance among countries. We relied on 454 ecological meta-analysis papers published from 1998 to 2014, which sourced over 29,000 original publications. Formal meta-analyses are essential for synthesizing findings from individual studies and are critical for assessing issues and informing policy. We found that, despite the rapid expansion of outlets for ecology papers (analogous to an increase in carrying capacity, in ecological systems), country diversity as determined from first author affiliations (analogous to species diversity) did not increase. Furthermore, a country identity was more powerful than the popularity of the scientific topic and affected the chance of publication in high-profile journals, independent of the potential novelty of findings and arguments of the papers, suggesting possible academic injustice. Consequently, a rank order and hierarchy has been gradually formed among countries. Notably, this country-dominance rank is not only specific to this scientific domain but also universal across different societal situations including sports and economics, further emphasizing that inequality and hierarchical structure exist even in modern human society. Our study demonstrates a need for having robust frameworks to facilitate equality and diversity in the scientific domain in order to better inform society and policy