How does phylogeny influence ecological patterns? As species of the same genus have usually, though by no means invariably, some similarity in habitats and constitution, and always in structure, the struggle will generally be more severe between species of the same genus, when they come into competition with each other, than between species of distinct genera. Charles Darwin(1959) The Origin of species by mean of natural selection. London.

Increase in marine diversity (number of families)

How does phylogeny influence ecological patterns? Community structure Life histrory traits Phenology Phylogenetic constraints Species assemblage rules NicheHistory Character evolution BiogeographyBiotic interactions Chance processes

Does evolutionary history influence today’s ecological patterns? Imact of evolutionary history Impact of species interactions Large scaleSmall scale Does evolutionary history influence ecological patterns at the local scale? Abundances Extinction risk Species co-occurrences Species composition biogeographic distribution

Evolution Species traits Adaptations S1S2S3S4S5 Region1Region2Region3 Community assembly with conserved adaptational traits Evolution Species traits Adaptations S1S2S3S4S5 Region1Region2Region3 Community assembly with competitive effects Species assembly and evolutionary history Clustered (underdispersed) pattern Overdispersed pattern The model assumes that ecologically plasticity is at least to a certain amount limited

Phylogeny and local and regional abundances Older (basal) lineage Younger (derived) lineages Abundance and clade (lineage) age Patterns of species co-occurrence Extinction risk and clade age Evolutionary speed and clade age To study these patterns we need well established phylogenetic trees

Taxon species richness and local abundances The case of Hymenoptera Continental taxon species richness of Hymenoptera is correlated to mean local abundances Number of species Fraction of singletons Number of species Fraction of abundant species Species rich hymenopteran taxa contain more locally rare and fewer locally abundant species

Does taxon size and phylogenetic history determine susceptability to extinction? Number of species in a flora Fraction of rare species In vascular plants frequencies of rare species seem to be correlated to taxon sizes.

Numbers of families and species scale allometrically to floral species richness y = 1.78x 0.77 R 2 = Number of species in a flora Number of genera y = 1.9x 0.61 R 2 = Number of species in a flora Number of families Species richer sites contain relatively less higher taxa. Species richer sites have higher S/G ratios Species richer sites contain higher proportions of ecologically similar species (environmental filtering)

Today’s reading Community assembly: Phylogeny and community ecology: