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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Published on: August 22, 2018

Long-distance dispersal: a framework for hypothesis testing.

Rosemary G Gillespie¹, Bruce G Baldwin, Jonathan M Waters

¹Essig Museum of Entomology and Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3114, USA. gillespie@berkeley.edu

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|October 22, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Biologists can now predict island biogeography by studying long-distance dispersal events. Understanding how organisms travel and establish on islands is key to predicting biodiversity patterns.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Biogeography

Background:

Hypotheses on the biogeographical impact of long-distance dispersal have been difficult to test due to the unpredictable nature of such events.
Understanding species' origins, arrival frequency, and establishment on islands is crucial for biogeographical studies.

Purpose of the Study:

To demonstrate that biogeographical predictions can be generated by analyzing long-distance dispersal events.
To examine the origin, arrival, establishment, endemism, and diversification patterns of dispersed organisms on islands.

Main Methods:

Analysis of data for terrestrial and littoral organisms in the Pacific.
Integration of knowledge on dispersal mechanisms (wind, birds, oceanic drift/rafting) with environmental and biological factors.
Examination of predicted patterns against phylogenetic data.

Main Results:

Knowledge of dispersal mechanisms, environmental factors, and organism biology allows for broad biogeographical predictions.
Predicted patterns of arrival, establishment, endemism, and diversification are increasingly supported by phylogenetic data.
Phylogenetic data for terrestrial and littoral organisms corroborate the predictive model.

Conclusions:

Long-distance dispersal, previously considered unpredictable, can be studied to generate robust biogeographical predictions.
The study provides a framework for understanding island biogeography and evolutionary processes on remote islands.
Phylogenetic analyses increasingly validate the predictive power of dispersal-based biogeographical models.