Evolutionary time and climatic stability as underlying drivers for floristic hyperdiversity across global biodiversity hotspots
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Biodiversity hotspots contain high species richness and endemism, but whether shared eco-evolutionary dynamics underlie this diversity remains unknown. We synthesized species richness, diversification rate, and age for 1,928 plant lineages across 21 hotspots, and applied phylogenetic comparative methods to disentangle shared and idiosyncratic drivers of diversity across hotspots. Hotspots differed substantially in their evolutionary dynamics: the highest diversification rates were found in island-like hotspots (Páramo and the Hawaiian Islands), and the oldest lineages in Southeast Asia and the Himalayan-Hengduan hotspots. Furthermore, older lineages had more species, and lineages that evolved in hotspots that have been climatically stable over time had higher diversity and diversification rates. Regions that shared a common environment (e.g., Mediterranean climate) were often similar in lineage ages and diversification rates, suggesting shared ecological opportunities. Our results indicate that the most diverse biodiversity hotspots contain old lineages that have accumulated diversity over time, but the highest diversification rates are found in young, island-like hotspots. Furthermore, lineages within biodiversity hotspots share similar ages and rates, suggesting that region-specific drivers have shaped lineages in similar ways. Our synthesis sets the stage for further investigation on whether hotspot lineages also respond in concert to ongoing threats of extinction.
Authors: Francis Nge, Sven Buerki, Martin Callmander, Wenna Ding, Tao Deng, Xianhan Huang, Elizabeth Joyce, Martha Kandziora, Porter Lowry II, Heidi Meudt, Maria Nieto-Blazquez, Pei Qin Ng, Peter Phillipson, Yohan Pillon, Sandra Reinales, Hang Sun, Jennifer Tate, Qin Tian, Thais Vasconcelos, John Wojahn, Renske Onstein
Institutions: Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Boise State University, Jardin Botanique de Genève, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Missouri Botanical Garden, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, University of Cambridge, Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Universidade de São Paulo, Massey University, University of Michigan, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Funders: National Science Foundation, Australian Government, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig
OpenAlex ID: W4413525228