Global Ecology and Biogeography

Journal: Global Ecology and Biogeography

Abbreviation

Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr.

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

1466-822X
1466-8238

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Publications 1 - 10 of 24

Global Homogenisation of Plant Communities Along Mountain Roads by Non-Native Species Despite Mixed Effects at Smaller Scales
Buhaly, Meike; Alexander, Jake; Pauchard, Aníbal; et al. (2025)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Aim: Mountain ecosystems are experiencing increased invasion of non-native plants. These increases in non-native species put mountains at risk of biotic homogenisation and a reduction of biodiversity. Our study aims to test if non-native plant species are contributing to biotic homogenisation along roadways in mountain regions and how this changes along elevation gradients and across spatial scales. Location: 18 globally distributed mountain regions. Time Period: 2012–2023. Major Taxa Studied: Vascular plants. Methods: We used standardised vegetation surveys including species cover from 18 mountain regions worldwide to analyse whether the addition of non-native species to the native flora increased or decreased Bray–Curtis dissimilarity (i.e., beta-diversity) among roadside plant communities along elevation gradients ranging from 15 to 3919 m a.s.l. We tested this at the local, regional, continental and global scales using mixed-effects models and confirmed it using null models. Results: In the New World, we mainly observed homogenisation across regions and scales, as beta-diversity was mostly lower with the addition of non-native species. This was particularly true for low elevations. In contrast, we predominantly found community differentiation in the Old World, specifically at smaller (i.e., local and regional) scales. At the global scale, communities became more similar through the addition of non-native species at all elevations. Main Conclusions: Large-scale homogenisation might be interpreted as a signal that high-elevation plant communities along roadways may become more similar as non-native species continue to spread upwards. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms driving the observed patterns of both homogenisation and differentiation by non-native species, and explore the potential consequences of these patterns for ecosystem function and resilience.
The global abundance of tree palms
Muscarella, Robert; Bastin, Jean-François; et al. (2020)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.
Dos and don'ts when inferring assembly rules from diversity patterns
Münkemüller, Tamara; Gallien, Laure; Pollock, Laura J.; et al. (2020)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Comparing temperature data sources for use in species distribution models: From in‐situ logging to remote sensing
Lembrechts, Jonas J.; Lenoir, Jonathan; Roth, Nina; et al. (2019)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Biomes as evolutionary arenas: Convergence and conservatism in the trans‐continental succulent biome
Ringelberg, Jens J.; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Weeks, Andrea; et al. (2020)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Aim Historically, biomes have been defined based on their structurally and functionally similar vegetation, but there is debate about whether these similarities are superficial, and about how biomes are defined and mapped. We propose that combined assessment of evolutionary convergence of plant functional traits and phylogenetic biome conservatism provides a useful approach for characterizing biomes. We focus on the little‐known succulent biome, a trans‐continentally distributed assemblage of succulent‐rich, drought‐deciduous, fire‐free forest, thicket and scrub vegetation as a useful exemplar biome to gain insights into these questions. Location Global lowland (sub)tropics. Time period Present. Major taxa studied Angiosperms. Methods We use a model ensemble approach to model the distribution of 884 species of stem succulents, a plant functional group representing a striking example of evolutionary convergence. Using this model, phylogenies, and species occurrence data, we quantify phylogenetic succulent biome conservatism for 10 non‐succulent trans‐continental plant clades including prominent elements of the succulent biome, representing over 800 species. Results The geographical and climatic distributions of stem succulents provide an objective and quantitative proxy for mapping the distribution of the succulent biome. High fractions of succulent biome occupancy across continents suggest all 10 non‐succulent study clades are phylogenetically conserved within the succulent biome. Main conclusions The trans‐continental succulent and savanna biomes both show evolutionary convergence in key biome‐related plant functional traits. However, in contrast to the savanna biome, which was apparently assembled via repeated local recruitment of lineages via biome shifts from adjacent biomes within continents, the succulent biome forms a coherent trans‐continental evolutionary arena for drought‐adapted tropical biome conserved lineages. Recognizing the important functional differences between the succulent‐rich, grass‐poor, fire‐free succulent biome and the grass‐dominated, succulent‐poor, fire‐prone savanna biome, and defining them as distinct seasonally dry tropical biomes, occupying essentially non‐overlapping distributions, provides critical insights into tropical biodiversity and the extent of biome stasis versus biome shifting.
Challenges in estimating species' age from phylogenetic trees
Calderón del Cid, Carlos; Hauffe, Torsten; Carrillo, Juan D.; et al. (2024)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Aim Species age, the elapsed time since origination, can give insight into how species longevity might influence eco-evolutionary dynamics, which has been hypothesized to influence extinction risk. Traditionally, species' ages have been estimated from fossil records. However, numerous studies have recently used the branch lengths of time-calibrated phylogenies as estimates of the ages of extant species. This approach poses problems because phylogenetic trees only contain direct information about species identity at the tips and not along the branches. Here, we show that incomplete taxon sampling, extinction and different assumptions about speciation modes can significantly alter the relationship between true species age and phylogenetic branch lengths, leading to high error rates. We found that these biases can lead to erroneous interpretations of eco-evolutionary patterns derived from comparing phylogenetic age and other traits, such as extinction risk. Innovation For bifurcating speciation, the default assumption in most analyses of species age, we propose a probabilistic approach based on the properties of a birth–death process to improve the estimation of species ages. Our approach can reduce the error by one order of magnitude under cases of high extinction and a high percentage of unsampled extant species. Main conclusion Our results call for caution in interpreting the relationship between phylogenetic ages and eco-evolutionary traits, as this can lead to biased and erroneous conclusions. We show that, under the assumption of bifurcating speciation, we can obtain unbiased approximations of species age by combining information from branch lengths with the expectations of a birth–death process.
Scaling the linkage between environmental niches and functional traits for improved spatial predictions of biological communities
Guisan, Antoine; Mod, Heidi K.; Scherrer, Daniel; et al. (2019)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Issue Approaches to predicting species assemblages through stacking individual niche‐based species distribution models (S‐SDMs) need to account for community processes other than abiotic filtering. Such constraints have been introduced by implementing ecological assembly rules (EARs) into S‐SDMs, and can be based on patterns of functional traits in communities. Despite being logically valid, this approach has led to a limited improvement in prediction, possibly because of mismatches between the scales of measurement of niche and trait data. Evidence S‐SDM studies have often related single values of a species’ traits to environmental niches that are captured by abiotic conditions measured at a much finer spatial scale, without accounting for intraspecific trait variation along environmental gradients. Many pieces of evidence show that omitting intraspecific trait variation can hinder the proper inference of EARs from trait patterns, and we further argue that it can therefore also affect our capacity to spatially predict functional properties of communities. In addition, estimates of environmental niches and trait envelopes may vary depending on the scale at which environmental and trait measurements are made. Conclusion We suggest that to overcome these limitations, surveys sampling both niche and trait measurements should be conducted at fine scales along wide environmental gradients, and integrated at the same scale to test and improve a new generation of spatial community models and their functional properties.
Aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity: An interocean comparison
Defeo, Omar; Barboza, Carlos A.M.; Barboza, Francisco R.; et al. (2017)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Aim While geographical patterns of species richness are reasonably well explored for single well-studied taxa, less is known about aggregate patterns of total richness for major biomes and their environmental correlates. Here we analyse continental-scale aggregate patterns of macrofaunal diversity for sandy beaches, a dominant habitat along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America. Location South American coastlines. Time period Present day (data amassed from studies performed since 1971). Major taxa studied Benthic macrofauna, including crustaceans, polychaetes and molluscs. Methods We compiled richness information for all macrofaunal groups on 263 sandy beaches in South America using standard criteria. We further matched these data with environmental variables including sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a, grain size, beach slope, tide range and various morphometrics. We used generalized linear mixed models to relate environmental factors to observed variation in total macrofaunal richness across all beaches, testing competing hypotheses about environmental correlates and possible drivers of latitudinal diversity. Results Macrofaunal richness decreased from tropical to temperate beaches in the Pacific and followed a parabolic trend in the Atlantic, with the highest biodiversity found at tropical and mid-latitudinal bands. Beach slope, tidal range and chlorophyll a mostly explained latitudinal trends in macrofaunal richness, followed by grain size, SST and ocean basin. Main conclusions This study indicates that richness of macrofaunal species at a given beach is most closely related to characteristics of the physical habitat, such as beach slope, area and grain size. At this scale, planktonic food supply also appeared to be more important than temperature, which is a dominant explanatory variable of global-scale variation in species richness
A conceptual map of invasion biology: Integrating hypotheses into a consensus network
Enders, Martin; Havemann, Frank; Ruland, Florian; et al. (2020)
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Background and aims Since its emergence in the mid‐20th century, invasion biology has matured into a productive research field addressing questions of fundamental and applied importance. Not only has the number of empirical studies increased through time, but also has the number of competing, overlapping and, in some cases, contradictory hypotheses about biological invasions. To make these contradictions and redundancies explicit, and to gain insight into the field’s current theoretical structure, we developed and applied a Delphi approach to create a consensus network of 39 existing invasion hypotheses. Results The resulting network was analysed with a link‐clustering algorithm that revealed five concept clusters (resource availability, biotic interaction, propagule, trait and Darwin’s clusters) representing complementary areas in the theory of invasion biology. The network also displays hypotheses that link two or more clusters, called connecting hypotheses , which are important in determining network structure. The network indicates hypotheses that are logically linked either positively (77 connections of support) or negatively (that is, they contradict each other; 6 connections). Significance The network visually synthesizes how invasion biology’s predominant hypotheses are conceptually related to each other, and thus, reveals an emergent structure – a conceptual map – that can serve as a navigation tool for scholars, practitioners and students, both inside and outside of the field of invasion biology, and guide the development of a more coherent foundation of theory. Additionally, the outlined approach can be more widely applied to create a conceptual map for the larger fields of ecology and biogeography.
Covariations between plant functional traits emerge from constraining parameterization of a terrestrial biosphere model
Peaucelle, Marc; Bacour, Cédric; Ciais, Philippe; et al. (2019)
Global Ecology and Biogeography

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