Environmental causes for plant biodiversity gradients
Environmental causes for plant biodiversity gradients
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2004.1524
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发表时间：
2004-10-29
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Chase, MW
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Davies, TJ;Barraclough, TG;Chase, MW
在生物多样性研究中观察到的最普遍的模式之一是物种丰富度向两极下降的趋势。一种可能的解释是，高水平的环境能量促进了赤道附近更高的物种丰富度。能量投入可能会限制一个区域内共存的物种数量，也可能会影响进化速度。在开花植物(被子植物)中，暴露在高能量负荷下的家族往往物种更丰富，进化速度更快，尽管没有证据表明一个家族驱动另一个家族。特定的环境效应可能会因谱系而异，反映出生物特征与发现它们的环境条件之间的相互作用。这方面的一个例子是，南非开普省的蝴蝶科(蝴蝶科)物种丰富，这可能是与生殖隔离以及该地区陡峭的生态和气候梯度有关的生物学特征的产物。在任何一组条件下，一些谱系往往比其他谱系更受青睐；然而，这些谱系的身份将随着环境的变化而波动，这解释了开花植物主要谱系中观察到的多样性比率高度不稳定的性质。
One of the most pervasive patterns observed in biodiversity studies is the tendency for species richness to decline towards the poles. One possible explanation is that high levels of environmental energy promote higher species richness nearer the equator. Energy input may set a limit to the number of species that can coexist in an area or alternatively may influence evolutionary rates. Within flowering plants (angiosperms), families exposed to a high energy load tend to be both more species rich and possess faster evolutionary rates, although there is no evidence that one drives the other. Specific environmental effects are likely to vary among lineages, reflecting the interaction between biological traits and environmental conditions in which they are found. One example of this is demonstrated by the high species richness of the iris family (Iridaceae) in the Cape of South Africa, a likely product of biological traits associated with reproductive isolation and the steep ecological and climatic gradients of the region. Within any set of conditions some lineages will tend to be favoured over others; however, the identity of these lineages will fluctuate with a changing environment, explaining the highly labile nature of diversification rates observed among major lineages of flowering plants.