Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue -, Pages 19715-19722Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0902956106
Keywords
Grinnellian niches; niche evolution; phylogenetic analysis; Salamandridae
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Ecological niches evolve through time, but at different rates and to different degrees. An integrated approach using diverse databases, methods, and analytical tools is used to estimate climate envelopes for species of salamanders ( family Salamandridae). These species, which range widely across the Holarctic and have a rich and long fossil record, are used to probe the evolutionary dynamics of niches studied in a phylogenetic context through time and across space. Climate data and statistical methods are used to estimate niche dimensions related to precipitation and temperature, in both a phylogenetic and ecogeographic context. Using phylogenetic methods, climate envelopes are estimated for segments of a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree of salamandrids, to explore how far back in time it is reasonable to make such estimates. Our research strategy illuminates some of the challenges and limitations of the available data and methods and identifies potential solutions, such as the need for physiological and behavioral data that may help to better define species' niches or the development of novel evolutionary models that account for paleoclimatic data. We explore and analyze limits to the application of currently available methodologies. Organisms known to have evolved slowly and conservatively, and which are ectotherms and likely to be profoundly affected by climatic variables, may be the most useful for studies of this kind.
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