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Published on: August 14, 2018
Why abundant tropical tree species are phylogenetically old
Shaopeng Wang1, Anping Chen, Jingyun Fang
1Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Summary
Neutral models failed to predict species age-abundance patterns in Panama. Variable speciation rates, not ecological equivalence, explain the positive correlation between species age and abundance in tropical forests.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Biodiversity Science
Background:
- Neutral models assume ecological equivalence, successfully predicting abundance distributions.
- These models also offer macroevolutionary predictions, though rarely tested.
- Previous research focused on abundance patterns, overlooking macroevolutionary implications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test macroevolutionary predictions of neutral diversity models.
- To evaluate the relationship between species age and population size.
- To investigate factors driving species abundance in tropical forest communities.
Main Methods:
- Compared neutral model predictions of species age-abundance relationships with empirical data.
- Analyzed age and abundance data for tree species in the Panamanian Canal watershed.
- Developed a modified neutral model incorporating variable speciation rates.
Main Results:
- Neutral models predict a humped or flat relationship between species age and abundance.
- Empirical data from Panama showed a positive correlation between species age and abundance, falsifying basic neutral models.
- Variable, heritable speciation rates, not ecological equivalence, explain the observed positive correlation.
Conclusions:
- Basic neutral models are insufficient to explain macroevolutionary patterns of species diversity.
- Variable speciation rates confer a demographic advantage, leading to older, more abundant species.
- The findings highlight the importance of incorporating evolutionary processes into ecological diversity models.
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