Pleistocene climatic changes drive diversification across a tropical savanna

Author(s)

Potter, Sally ^{[1, 2]} ; Xue, Alexander T. ^{[3, 4]} ; Bragg, Jason G. ^{[1, 2]} ; Rosauer, Dan F. ^{[1, 2]} ; Roycroft, Emily J. ^{[5, 6]} ; Moritz, Craig ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Biol, Acton, ACT - Australia

^[2] Ctr Biodivers Anal, Acton, ACT - Australia

^[3] CUNY, Dept Biol, New York, NY 10021 - USA

^[4] Rutgers State Univ, Dept Genet, Piscataway, NJ - USA

^[5] Univ Melbourne, Sch Biosci, Parkville, Vic - Australia

^[6] Museums Victoria, Sci Dept, Melbourne, Vic - Australia

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Molecular Ecology; v. 27, n. 2, p. 520-532, JAN 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

Spatial responses of species to past climate change depend on both intrinsic traits (climatic niche breadth, dispersal rates) and the scale of climatic fluctuations across the landscape. New capabilities in generating and analysing population genomic data, along with spatial modelling, have unleashed our capacity to infer how past climate changes have shaped populations, and by extension, complex communities. Combining these approaches, we uncover lineage diversity across four codistributed lizards from the Australian Monsoonal Tropics and explore how varying climatic tolerances interact with regional climate history to generate common vs. disparate responses to late Pleistocene change. We find more divergent spatial structuring and temporal demographic responses in the drier Kimberley region compared to the more mesic and consistently suitable Top End. We hypothesize that, in general, the effects of species' traits on sensitivity to climate fluctuation will be more evident in climatically marginal regions. If true, this points to the need in climatically marginal areas to craft more species-(or trait)-specific strategies for persistence under future climate change. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/50297-0 - Dimensions US-BIOTA São Paulo: a multidisciplinary framework for biodiversity prediction in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot
• Grantee: Cristina Yumi Miyaki
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants