Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches
Abstract Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characte...
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doaj-3b715d801d1848ce807c091c9e4185df2021-04-02T12:31:39ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582020-07-0110146967697710.1002/ece3.6359Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological nichesHannah L. Owens0Vivian Ribeiro1Erin E. Saupe2Marlon E. Cobos3Peter A. Hosner4Jacob C. Cooper5Abdallah M. Samy6Vijay Barve7Narayani Barve8Carlos J. Muñoz‐R.9A. Townsend Peterson10Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate GLOBE Institute University of Copenhagen Copenhagen DenmarkStockholm Environment Institute Stockholm SwedenDepartment of Earth Sciences University of Oxford Oxford UKBiodiversity Institute University of Kansas Lawrence KS USACenter for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate GLOBE Institute University of Copenhagen Copenhagen DenmarkCommittee on Evolutionary Biology The University of Chicago Chicago IL USAEntomology Department Faculty of Science Ain Shams University Cairo EgyptFlorida Museum of Natural History University of Florida Gainesville FL USAFlorida Museum of Natural History University of Florida Gainesville FL USALaboratorio de Análisis Espaciales Instituto de Biología Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Ciudad de México MexicoBiodiversity Institute University of Kansas Lawrence KS USAAbstract Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characterized; and (b) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species' environmental tolerances. Here, we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental tolerances. We provide a worked empirical example of our method, investigating ecological niche evolution in the New World orioles (Aves: Passeriformes: Icterus spp.). Temperature and precipitation tolerances were generally broad and conserved among orioles, with niche reduction and specialization limited to a few terminal branches. Tools for performing these reconstructions are available in a new R package called nichevol.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6359comparative phylogeneticsfundamental ecological nicheIcterusphylogenetic niche conservatism |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hannah L. Owens Vivian Ribeiro Erin E. Saupe Marlon E. Cobos Peter A. Hosner Jacob C. Cooper Abdallah M. Samy Vijay Barve Narayani Barve Carlos J. Muñoz‐R. A. Townsend Peterson |
spellingShingle |
Hannah L. Owens Vivian Ribeiro Erin E. Saupe Marlon E. Cobos Peter A. Hosner Jacob C. Cooper Abdallah M. Samy Vijay Barve Narayani Barve Carlos J. Muñoz‐R. A. Townsend Peterson Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches Ecology and Evolution comparative phylogenetics fundamental ecological niche Icterus phylogenetic niche conservatism |
author_facet |
Hannah L. Owens Vivian Ribeiro Erin E. Saupe Marlon E. Cobos Peter A. Hosner Jacob C. Cooper Abdallah M. Samy Vijay Barve Narayani Barve Carlos J. Muñoz‐R. A. Townsend Peterson |
author_sort |
Hannah L. Owens |
title |
Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
title_short |
Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
title_full |
Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
title_fullStr |
Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
title_sort |
acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2045-7758 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
Abstract Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characterized; and (b) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species' environmental tolerances. Here, we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental tolerances. We provide a worked empirical example of our method, investigating ecological niche evolution in the New World orioles (Aves: Passeriformes: Icterus spp.). Temperature and precipitation tolerances were generally broad and conserved among orioles, with niche reduction and specialization limited to a few terminal branches. Tools for performing these reconstructions are available in a new R package called nichevol. |
topic |
comparative phylogenetics fundamental ecological niche Icterus phylogenetic niche conservatism |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6359 |
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