Opposing effects of plant traits on diversification
Bruce Anderson,
John Pannell,
Sylvain Billiard,
Concetta Burgarella,
Hugo de Boer,
Mathilde Dufay,
Andrew J. Helmstetter,
Marcos Méndez,
Sarah P. Otto,
Denis Roze,
Hervé Sauquet,
Daniel Schoen,
Jürg Schönenberger,
Mario Vallejo-Marin,
Rosana Zenil-Ferguson,
Jos Käfer,
Sylvain Glémin
Affiliations
Bruce Anderson
Department of Botany & Zoology, Stellenbosch Univ., Cape Town, South Africa; Corresponding author
John Pannell
Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Sylvain Billiard
University Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198 – Evo-Eco-Paleo, 59000 Lille, France
Concetta Burgarella
Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Hugo de Boer
Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway
Mathilde Dufay
CEFE, University Montpellier, CNRS, University Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Ephe, IRD, Montpellier, France
Andrew J. Helmstetter
FRB – CESAB, 5 Rue de l’École de Médecine, 34000 Montpellier, France
Marcos Méndez
Area of Biodiversity and Conservation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
Sarah P. Otto
Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Denis Roze
IRL 3614, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Station Biologique de Roscoff, 29688 Roscoff Cedex, France
Hervé Sauquet
National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia; Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Daniel Schoen
Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Jürg Schönenberger
Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Mario Vallejo-Marin
Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Rosana Zenil-Ferguson
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0225, USA
Jos Käfer
Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, 69622 Villeurbanne, France; Corresponding author
Sylvain Glémin
Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; CNRS, Ecosystèmes Biodiversité Evolution (Université de Rennes), 35000 Rennes, France; Corresponding author
Summary: Species diversity can vary dramatically across lineages due to differences in speciation and extinction rates. Here, we explore the effects of several plant traits on diversification, finding that most traits have opposing effects on diversification. For example, outcrossing may increase the efficacy of selection and adaptation but also decrease mate availability, two processes with contrasting effects on lineage persistence. Such opposing trait effects can manifest as differences in diversification rates that depend on ecological context, spatiotemporal scale, and associations with other traits. The complexity of pathways linking traits to diversification suggests that the mechanistic underpinnings behind their correlations may be difficult to interpret with any certainty, and context dependence means that the effects of specific traits on diversification are likely to differ across multiple lineages and timescales. This calls for taxonomically and context-controlled approaches to studies that correlate traits and diversification.
