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- Title
Diversity patterns of selected Andean plant groups correspond to topography and habitat dynamics, not orogeny.
- Authors
Mutke, Jens; Jacobs, Rana; Meyers, Katharina; Henning, Tilo; Weigend, Maximilian
- Abstract
The tropical Andes are a hotspot of biodiversity, but detailed altitudinal and latitudinal distribution patterns of species are poorly understood. We compare the distribution and diversity patterns of four Andean plant groups on the basis of georeferenced specimen data: the genus Nasa (Loasaceae), the two South American sections of Ribes (sect. Parilla and sect. Andina, Grossulariaceae), and the American clade of Urtica (Urticaceae). There is a clear diversity peak between 3-8- S (Amotape-Huancabamba Zone, AHZ), with most narrowly endemic species found there across the groups studied. Latitudinal ranges are generally larger towards the margins of overall range of the group. In the tropical Andes species number and number of endemic species peak at elevations of 2,500-3,500 m, with high elevation species not notably different in latitudinal range. The ecological niches of the tropical groups studied are relatively similar in temperature and temperature seasonality, but do differ in moisture seasonality. This is mirrored in a particular diversity of growth form (as proxy for ecological niche) in the AHZ. Small scale climatic differences apparently contribute to spatial habitat heterogeneity, leading to increased diversity. Altitudinal diversity patterns correspond well with the altitudinal distribution of slope inclination, indicating that the likelihood and frequency of landslides translates into temporal habitat heterogeneity: since most of the taxa studied are from disturbed and secondary vegetation, the frequency of landslides may be causally connected to diversification. Overall, spatiotemporal habitat heterogeneity appears to be directly and positively correlated to diversity and endemicity. Conversely, uplift history is not reflected in the pattern here retrieved, since the AHZ is the area of the most recent Andean uplift. Similarly, a barrier effect of the low-lying Huancabamba depression is not at all visible in our data.
- Subjects
ANDES Region; PLANT diversity; PLANTS; TOPOGRAPHY; OROGENY; RIBES; NETTLES; ECOLOGICAL niche; ENDEMIC plants
- Publication
Frontiers in Genetics, 2014, Vol 5, p1
- ISSN
1664-8021
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3389/fgene.2014.00351