Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 103, Issue 45, Pages 16812-16817Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0604933103
Keywords
Mediterranean-type ecosystems; Mexical shrubland; phylogenetic niche conservatism; plant facilitation; stabilizing selection
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One of the most important floristic sorting periods to affect modern plant communities occurred during the shift from the wet Tertiary period to the unusually dry Quaternary, when most global deserts developed. During this time, a wave of new plant species emerged, presumably in response to the new climate. Interestingly, most Tertiary species that have been tracked through the fossil record did not disappear but remained relatively abundant despite the development of a much more unfavorable climate for species adapted to moist conditions. Here we find, by integrating paleobotanical, ecological, and phylogenetic analyses, that a large number of ancient Tertiary species in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems appear to have been preserved by the facilitative or nurse effects of modern Quaternary species. Our results indicate that these interdependent relationships among plants have played a central role in the preservation of the global biodiversity and provided a mechanism for stabilizing selection and the conservation of ecological traits over evolutionary time scales.
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