Ice age climate, evolutionary constraints and diversity patterns of European dung beetles

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ice age climate, evolutionary constraints and diversity patterns of European dung beetles

AU - Hortal, Joaquín

AU - Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre F.

AU - Bini, Luis Mauricio

AU - Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel

AU - Baselga, Andrés

AU - Nogues, David Bravo

AU - Rangel, Thiago Fernando

AU - Hawkins, Bradford A.

AU - Lobo, Jorge M.

PY - 2011/8

Y1 - 2011/8

N2 - Current climate and Pleistocene climatic changes are both known to be associated with geographical patterns of diversity. We assess their associations with the European Scarabaeinae dung beetles, a group with high dispersal ability and well-known adaptations to warm environments. By assessing spatial stationarity in climate variability since the last glacial maximum (LGM), we find that current scarab richness is related to the location of their limits of thermal tolerance during the LGM. These limits mark a strong change in their current species richness–environment relationships. Furthermore, northern scarab assemblages are nested and composed of a phylogenetically clustered subset of large-range sized generalist species, whereas southern ones are diverse and variable in composition. Our results show that species responses to current climate are limited by the evolution of assemblages that occupied relatively climatically stable areas during the Pleistocene, and by post-glacial dispersal in those that were strongly affected by glaciations.

AB - Current climate and Pleistocene climatic changes are both known to be associated with geographical patterns of diversity. We assess their associations with the European Scarabaeinae dung beetles, a group with high dispersal ability and well-known adaptations to warm environments. By assessing spatial stationarity in climate variability since the last glacial maximum (LGM), we find that current scarab richness is related to the location of their limits of thermal tolerance during the LGM. These limits mark a strong change in their current species richness–environment relationships. Furthermore, northern scarab assemblages are nested and composed of a phylogenetically clustered subset of large-range sized generalist species, whereas southern ones are diverse and variable in composition. Our results show that species responses to current climate are limited by the evolution of assemblages that occupied relatively climatically stable areas during the Pleistocene, and by post-glacial dispersal in those that were strongly affected by glaciations.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01634.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01634.x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21645193

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 14

SP - 741

EP - 748

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 8

ER -