TALKS

Antonelli, Alexandre

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

Next-generation Biogeography

Understanding the historical assembly of Neotropical biomes and the response of biodiversity to past episodes of climate change and habitat disturbance may help us prioritise species and regions for conservation. In this talk I will present our collaborative efforts to elucidate the evolution and fate of biological diversity, with a focus on tropical America. We are proceeding in two ways:

1) by developing novel computational solutions to merge the rapidly increasing data from biological databases, in particular DNA sequences, species distribution data, fossil records, and climatic data. Our solution, termed SUPERSMART (Self-Updating Platform for Estimating Rates of Speciation and Migration, Ages and Relationships of Taxa) aims at producing perpetually updated, time-calibrated phylogenies for all plants, animals and fungi, and applying newly developed Bayesian meta-analysis approaches to estimate rates of speciation, extinction, and migration within and among user-defined areas.

2) by collecting samples from strategically chosen species through expeditions throughout tropical America, and then generating vast amounts of genetic data through next-generation and genomic sequencing techniques. The data produced is then used to test competing hypotheses of diversification, including biotic (e.g. pollination) and abiotic (e.g. soil heterogeneity) triggers of speciation.

The data and insights gathered from these two approaches will hopefully improve our use of “Big Data” in phylogenetic research, and shed further light on the origins and evolution of the outstanding biodiversity found on the American continent.

Neotropics; Phylogenomics; Biome evolution; Cross-taxonomic analyses

Atchison, Guy; Filatov DA; Nelson MN; Hughes CE

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K; School of Plant Biology and the UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Australia.; Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Switzerland

Fractious Phylogenies - exploring the utility of transcriptome sequencing for resolving the western New World Lupinus (Papilionoideae) radiations.

There are many examples of rapid episodes of species diversification, or species radiations across the legumes, and many other groups across the tree of life, yet fundamental questions about how and why radiations happen remain largely unanswered. This is mostly due to the difficulties and challenges associated with reconstructing well-resolved and robustly-supported phylogenies for very rapidly evolving clades. We are investigating these questions for the genus Lupinus (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) which comprises c.267 species of annuals and perennials spanning the Mediterranean, North and South America. The large western New World Lupinus clade of c. 192 species is thought to be the result of a series of parallel and nested replicate continental-scale radiations, with some of the highest known rates of net species diversification in plants. While these accelerated rates of species diversification are strongly associated with perennial life history and occupation of montane habitats, the geographical and taxonomic extent of these radiations and their detailed geographical and adaptive trajectories remain unknown, due to lack of resolution in current phylogenies. To tackle these issues, we are exploring the utility of transcriptome sequencing (aka RNA-seq) data to reconstruct an enhanced phylogeny for the western New World Lupinus, and especially the large high elevation Andean clade comprising c.85 species, that includes the domesticated Andean crop lupin Lupinus mutabilis. We have generated transcriptome data for 28 species of Lupinus, including 17 species from the large Andean clade, to screen for orthologous loci with high levels of phylogenetically informative sequence variation. Here we present preliminary results from this work.

Phylogenomics; Leguminosae; Radiations; Andes; Diversification

Bacon, Christine D.

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

New insights on an older model: the Isthmus of Panama and the Great American Biotic Interchange

The formation of the Isthmus of Panama separating North and South America had a major impact on global climate, oceanic and atmospheric currents, and biodiversity. Standard geological models postulate that the Isthmus closed completely by c. 3 million years ago (Ma), separating marine organisms once distributed in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and prompting the Great American Biotic Interchange. Recent geological studies are now challenging this view and suggesting an older and more complex model of isthmian formation. However, geological and oceanographic data alone have not been able to settle this debate, nor inform on the timing of land emergence and establishment of a terrestrial connection among the continents. Here we explicitly test the alternative models and estimate land emergence using all available biological ¬data, supporting a much older formation of the Isthmus than assumed by the standard models. Our cross-taxonomic analyses of fossil and molecular data robustly show that terrestrial migration began over 50 million of years ago (Ma) and was followed by significant waves of migration at approximately 24.3, 10.0, and 5.5 Ma. Variability in dispersal times across the Isthmus cannot be explained by dispersal ability, dispersal direction, altitudinal preference, or biome type. Our results thus demonstrate that migration was not regulated by intrinsic traits, but rather the presence of emergent and closely connected terrain. An earlier formation of the Panama Isthmus calls for a re-evaluation of current climatic, oceanographic and atmospheric models, including the timing and underlying mechanisms of the Pleistocene glaciations.

Biodiversity, GABI, biogeography

Botero-Castro , Fidel F; Tilak MK; Justy F; Catzeflis F; Delsuc F; Douzery EJP

Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, UMR 5554-CNRS-IRD, Université Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France

NGS sequencing and mitogenomics of phyllostomid bats are useful tools for biogeography

Mitochondrial genes are the most used markers in disciplines including molecular phylogeny, phylogeography and biogeography because of their biological properties and relative facility for sequencing. However, when working with a highly diversified group, a number of difficulties can be encountered because of the required taxon sampling and high genetic divergence among taxa. NGS provides a powerful tool to face such a situation as it does not rely on the specificity of primers and it allows sequencing several individuals/taxa at the same time thanks to the use of tags. We present the case of the highly diversified family of leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae), a family widespread all over the neotropics, but with distributions highly disparate and influenced by natural barriers like the Andean system, the discontinuity Amazon-Orinoquia and the presence of arid ecosystems in South and Central America. For example, this group includes species whose distribution can be restricted to Antillean islands like the sister taxa Ardops nichollsi and Ariteus flavescens, taxa endemic to specific regions/ecosystems in the continent like the Peruvian Platalina genovensium or widespread ones like the common vampire Desmodus rotundus. We first show the utility of NGS to obtain whole mitochondrial genomes at fulfilling both taxon and genetic sampling in a group with high species diversity and high levels of genetic divergence. We then illustrate the case of the Lonchophyllinae, a subfamily of nectivorous bats with representatives on both sides of the Andes but including taxa endemic to the Brazilian ecosystems of Cerrado and Caatinga as well as species restricted to the Chocoan forest. This example depicts the potential of NGS as a tool for improving the knowledge of a group with a complex biogeography and for which there are yet unclear phylogenetic relationships.

Mitogenome, NGS, phyllostomidae, biogeography

Camacho, Agustin G.; Miguel Rodrigues; Mauro Teixeira Jr; Michael Lee

Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil; School of Earth, Environmental and Landscape Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia

Body shape drives the evolution of distribution range in lizards of two different continents.

Understanding the evolution of geographic range size (GRS) is critical for evolutionary and biogeographical theory. Morphological traits offer a great potential to explore GRS evolution but the effects of multiple correlated traits need to be controlled when looking for potential drivers. In addition, phylogenetic uncertainty and geographic constraints also need to be taken into account when assessing the generality of relationships between GRS and morphology. We tested the if the evolution of limb-reduced, elongated shapes and GRS were correlated in Australian lizards of the genus Lerista and South American lizards of the Gymnophthalmidae familiy. We describe body shape using multivariate methods (PCA) and perform non-phylogenetic and phylogenetic analyses; the latter being Bayesian analyses that accounts for uncertainties in trait optimization, tree topology and branch lengths. The axis representing limb reduction and body elongation was negatively correlated to GRS in both groups.This results suggest that at least in lizards, a relationship between body shape and reduced GRS patterns occurs consistently in different clades, inhabiting different continents. Such general relationships might constitute important macroevolutionary drivers and thus deserve further analysis.

Morphology, distribution range, conservation, taxonomy.

Chacon, Juliana; Renner SS

Biology Department, University of Munich; Munich; Germany

Evolution of the Alstroemeriaceae with a focus on southern-hemisphere biogeographic patterns and chromosome evolution in Alstroemeria

About 15 angiosperm families are shared between South America, Australasia, and/or South Africa. One of these southern-hemisphere families is the Alstroemeriaceae, the biogeography of which we are studying using a multi-gene phylogeny for 125 of the 204 species. The family comprises four genera, Bomarea, with 120 species in Central and South America, Alstroemeria, with 78 species in southern South America and south-eastern Brazil, Luzuriaga, with three species in Chile and one in New Zealand, and Drymophila, with one species in Australia and one in Tasmania. A relaxed clock model with up to three fossil calibrations and Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis imply that the most recent common ancestor of Alstroemeriaceae and their sister group Colchicaceae lived in the Late Cretaceous in southern South America. The discovery of Luzuriaga fossil leaves from the Early Miocene of New Zealand constitutes another proof of the biogeographic connections that existed between South America and New Zealand during the Oligocene-Miocene. The initial diversification of Bomarea took place in the central Andes about 14 million years ago (Ma). The adaptations to humming-bird pollination might have played a role in the evolution of this clade. A belt of arid vegetation caused by the onset of the Andean rain shadow 14–15 Ma, the South American Arid Diagonal (SAAD), isolated a Brazilian clade of Alstroemeria from a basal Chilean/Argentinean grade. Fluorescent in situ hybridization data of ribosomal genes analyzed on a phylogenetic context revealed a high extent of chromosomal restructuring in Alstroemeria, probably in connection with the establishment of the SAAD. Of the 15 Austral-Antarctic plant families, only Alstroemeriaceae, Calceolariaceae, Cunoniaceae, Escalloniaceae, and Proteaceae have expanded and diversified from Patagonia to Central America. All migrated northwards along the Andes, but also reached south-eastern Brazil Our results suggest that the SAAD may have been a major ecological barrier in southern South America.

Austral-Antarctic families; East Gondwana; New Zealand; Fluorescent in situ hybridization; South American Arid Diagonal

Chave, Jerome; L Bardon; PJ Malé

CNRS, Toulouse; UMR 5174, EDB, CNRS/Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

Phylogeography of Chrysobalanaceae using genome skimming

Whole genome sequencing is helping generate robust phylogenetic hypotheses for a range of taxonomic groups that were previously recalcitrant to classical molecular phylogenetic approaches. We performed a shallow shotgun sequencing of over 40 species in the tropical tree family Chrysobalanaceae to retrieve large fragments of organelle genomes. We were able to assemble the nuclear ribosomal cluster (nrDNA), the complete plastid genome (ptDNA) and a large fraction of the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) with approximately 1000x, 450x and 120x sequencing depth respectively. The phylogenetic hypothesis obtained with ptDNA and mtDNA were congruent, and well resolved at least for ptDNA. In contrast, the tree obtained with nrDNA data was unresolved. We added over 80 species to the tree using Snager sequencing of selected regions designed to be most informative. The results provides a much refined picture of the evolutionary history of this family. This study demonstrates that genome skimming is a reliable and cost-effective approach to build phylogenetic hypotheses in plant clades. Genome skimming is of large applicability, and should help improve knowledge in plant systematics.

Chrysobalanaceae; genome sequencing; phylogeny

Cosgrove, Julia G; Binford GJ

Biology, Lewis & Clark College, USA

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of Caribbean pseudoscorpions exhibit patterns consistent with both vicariance and dispersal hypotheses

Pseudoscorpions are small, cryptic, and understudied arachnids that are distributed globally across a range of habitats. Only within the last decade have experts begun to resolve the phylogenetic relationships within this order using both morphological and molecular tools. This study provides an updated assessment of pseudoscorpion diversity in the Greater Antilles, with a primary focus on two of the most common families found on islands in the Caribbean: Chthoniidae and Olpiidae. We used three molecular markers (COI, 28S, & H3) to infer phylogenetic trees for these families and test vicariance hypotheses consistent with the geological history of the islands. Highlighted in this analysis are complex patterns of distribution and dozens of undescribed species, illuminating the need for further biogeographic and taxonomic work in this region.

Pseudoscorpion; Biogeography; Vicariance; Dispersal; Caribbean

Crawford, Andrew J; Paz A; Ibáñez R; Lips KR

BIOMICS, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

Testing the role of ecology in structuring genetic variation across a landscape: A comparative ecophylogeographic approach applied to frog communities in Panama.

Hypotheses to explain phylogeographic structure traditionally invoke geographic features, but often fail to provide a general explanation for spatial patterns of genetic variation. We hypothesize that intrinsic features of the organism might play more important roles than landscape features in determining phylogeographic structure. We developed a novel approach to explore the role of ecological and life-history variables in determining spatial genetic variation and tested it on frog communities in Panama. We quantified spatial genetic variation within 31 anuran taxa based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, for which hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation analyses rejected simultaneous divergence among species over a common landscape. Regressing ecological variables on genetic divergence revealed that mean elevation, present landscape resistance (as estimated from environmental niche models), body size, biogeographic origin, and reproductive mode were significant predictors of spatial genetic variation. Our results support the idea that phylogeographic structure represents the outcome of a confrontation between an organism and potentially novel environments, and suggest a conceptual integration we refer to as 'ecophylogeography'. 

Diazgranados, Mauricio; Avila F; Funk VA

Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, United States

Biogeographic patterns of the Compositae in Colombia

Compositae (=Asteraceae) is the second most diverse plant family in Colombia. This family can be used as a model system to understand the biogeographic patterns that resulted in the high biodiversity of the northern Andean region. To do that, the first step was to prepare the checklist of Compositae for this country, which was done in parallel for the Flora of Colombia project. We found over 1,308 species collected in Colombia, distributed in 27 tribes, 80 subtribes and 259 genera. In addition we compiled a database of 1,280,120 specimens of those species, collected throughout the entire world. Compositae species from Colombia are found in 132 countries in all continents. Most of the records (1,201,542), however, correspond to 99 adventitious species (8%). Non-adventitious species (54%) are found in 92 countries. Only 24 countries, all in the Americas, have native (but not endemic) species from Colombia (51%, after excluding 33 widely distributed species). Results show that 39% of the species are endemic from the country. We found 33,499 fully identified and geo-referenced specimens collected in Colombia. The majority was collected in Cundinamarca (7,403 specimens) and Boyacá (3,937 specimens), which are at the same time the richest departments (38% and 32% of the species, respectively). Most of the species are found in the Andean region (63%). Other areas with many fewer species are the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (7.3%), Cauca River Valley (5.9%), Magdalena River Valley (6.48%), Pacific region (4.38%), Caribbean region (4.15%), Amazonia (2.56%), Guiana Shield (2.21%), and Caribbean Islands (0.51%). The most diverse tribes are Eupatorieae (21%), Senecioneae (18%), Astereae (12%), Heliantheae s.s. (12%), and Millerieae (9%). Six radiations account for ~34% of the total species richness: Senecio-Pentacalia (156 spp.), Espeletiinae (86), Diplostephium (63), Mikania (61), Baccharis (38) and Clibadium-Steiractinia (30). Preliminary data indicate that nearly 49% of the species have their ancestors in North American-Mexican clades, suggesting various migrations from the North, and a stronger affinity with this flora. Only a few clades (circa 5% of the species) have their origins in southern South America (i.e. Barnadesioideae-Mutisioideae grade), and Central and Northern Andes (i.e. Liabeae).

Andes; Asteraceae; biogeography; checklist; radiations

Duchene, Sebastian; Simon Y W Ho

School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney

Estimating evolutionary timescales with multi-gene data sets

Estimating evolutionary timescales is an important component of biological research. By estimating the divergence times of lineages, it is possible to make inferences about past evolutionary dynamics, including changes in population size, geographic barriers, and migration patterns. All estimates of evolutionary timescales make some assumption about the rate of evolution. The simplest model is the strict molecular clock, which postulates a constant rate through time. To estimate the divergence time between two species, most methods divide the genetic divergence between the species by the rate of evolution. However, the rate of evolution can vary among lineages. The level of this variation depends on the taxonomic scale and the genomic region being analysed. Closely related lineages tend to have more similar rates of evolution than those that are distantly related. Similarly, genes with different selective constraints will exhibit different patterns of among-lineage rate variation.

As a response to this problem, several relaxed-molecular clock models have been proposed, in which among-lineage rate variation is accounted for in the analysis. This leads to higher accuracy and precision in the estimation of evolutionary timescales. In this talk, I will give an overview of methods to account for rate variation among lineages, with a particular emphasis on newly developed computational implementations for the analysis of multi-gene data sets.

Molecular clock, Phylogenetics, Computational molecular evolution

Esposito, Lauren; Binford, G; Agnarsson, I; Gillespie, R

Department of Biology, Lewis and Clark College, USA; Department of Biology, University of Vermont, USA; Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley, USA

Caribbean Arachnids: What we know about a mega-diverse group in a biodiversity hotspot

A unique and highly complex geological history has resulted in the rich floral and faunal assemblages of the Caribbean. Questions concerning the origin and diversification of lineages in this region are fascinating because of the interplay of complex island histories, the proximity of continents, and the varying dispersal abilities of endemic organisms. Despite great scientific interest, there are as yet no unifying principles to explain the origin and diversification of Caribbean organisms. Arachnids, a major group of k-selected predatory arthropods with fossil representation, are ideal organisms for understanding Caribbean biogeography. A major effort to catalogue Caribbean arachnids for comparative biogeography will be discussed, as well as emerging results from arachnid lineages with varying dispersal abilities regarding the relative importance of colonization of the Caribbean via: overwater dispersal from South, Central and North America; and vicariance from South, Central, and North America, as well as the role of continental colonization by island taxa by ‘reverse colonization’ of North, Central and South America from the Caribbean. Varying dispersal abilities among arachnid lineages have resulted in a range of biogeographic patterns for the Caribbean. For example, patterns highly congruent with both dispersal and vicariance in the Greater Antilles have been observed in scorpion lineages, evidence for 'reverse colonization' of continents from islands has been observed in a wide range of arachnid lineages, and correlation of bedrock composition and population structure has been observed in troglophilic arachnids (Amblypygida).

West Indies; Caves; Amblypygida; Scorpions

Guarnizo, Carlos E.; Binford, G; Agnarsson, I; Gillespie, R

Department of Biology, Lewis and Clark College, USA; Department of Biology, University of Vermont, USA; Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley, USA

Caribbean Arachnids: What we know about a mega-diverse group in a biodiversity hotspot

Complex interactions between topographic heterogeneity, climatic and environmental gradients, and thermal niche conservatism are commonly assumed to indicate the degree of biotic diversification in montane regions. Our aim was to investigate factors that disrupt gene flow between populations and to determine if there is evidence of downslope asymmetric migration in highland frogs with wide elevational ranges and thermal niches. We determined the role of putative impediments to gene flow (as measured by Least-Cost Path distances, topographic complexity, and elevational range) in promoting genetic divergence between populations of two tropical Andean frog sister-species using causal modeling and multiple matrix regression. While the effect of geographic features was species-specific, elevational range and Least-Cost Path distances had the strongest effect on gene flow. Even though causal modeling and multiple matrix regression produced congruent results, the latter provided more information on the contribution of each geographic variable. We found moderate support for downslope migration. We conclude that the climatic heterogeneity of the landscape, the elevational distance between populations, and the inability to colonize sub-optimal habitats due to thermal niche conservatism influence the magnitude of gene flow. Asymmetric migration, however, seems to be influenced by life history traits.

Migration rate, Andes, topographic complexity, elevation range

Harmon, Luke

University of Idaho

Species interactions in time and space

Evolutionary biologists have long speculated about the role that species interactions can have on macroevolutionary patterns of trait evolution. However, population and community ecology has focused on the impacts of both negative and positive interactions on patterns of community structure and microevolution, but ignored phylogenetic relationships among species. Likewise, all current phylogenetic models of diversification and trait evolution assume that evolution along each branch in a phylogenetic tree is independent of evolution along every other branch - an assumption that precludes any kind of species interactions. Hence, the impacts of species interactions on broad-scale macroevolutionary patterns across the tree of life remain unclear. I will describe new comparative methods that seek to investigate the signature of species interactions on macroevolution using phylogenetic comparative data. I will focus on the connection between phylogenetic tree shape, trait evolution, and ecosystem functioning.

Harvey, Michael G; Brumfield RT

Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University

Harnessing genomics for evolutionary study of Neotropical birds

Rapid advances in sequencing technologies are making genomic approaches to evolutionary questions accessible to researchers studying non-model organisms. The best approach for a given project may vary, however, based on the questions and approaches of the researcher. We investigate the utility of two approaches, sequence capture of genomic ultraconserved elements and genotyping by sequencing, for different applications. Using primarily Neotropical lowland bird systems, we apply sequence capture to deep phylogeny and comparative phylogeography and genotyping by sequencing to phylogeography and population genetics. We also compare sequence capture and genotyping by sequencing by analyzing datasets generated using both approaches from the same samples. We find that both sequence capture and genotyping by sequencing are useful for a broad suite of applications, with extensive overlap. Sequence capture is more useful for phylogenetics and comparative phylogeography, whereas genotyping by sequencing may be more useful in studies that need to generate lots of data quickly. We provide some examples of results and insights that are possible by taking genomic approaches to evolutionary questions.

Genomics; Next-generation sequencing; phylogeography; sequence capture; genotyping by sequencing

Huertas, Blanca; Willmott KR; Mallet J

McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, USA; Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Harvard, USA

The role of museum data in quantifying threat status of butterflies in the Neotropics

Most biological diversity is concentrated in the tropics and represented by insects, but threatened species programmes were created for and concentrate on vertebrates. However, there are several impediments to the conservation of tropical insects resulting from issues with taxonomy, quality of data and resources available. The abundance and distributional data necessary for a more thorough analysis was unavailable for most species and accelerate rate of deforestation in the Neotropical forest makes urgent obtain that information. Our research examines the feasibility of assessing the threat status of Neotropical butterflies using IUCN criteria using museum data as the primary source, discussing case examples, milestones and future directions for research.

Neotropics, Butterflies, Conservation, Threat assessments, IUCN criteria, museums

Jaramillo, Carlos

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Contrasting views on the evolution of the Ishtmus of Panama and its biological, paleooceanographic, and paleoclimatological implications

The geological history of the isthmus of Panama has attracted wide interest because of its paleoceanographic/climatic implications, and the biological bridge that produced joining South America and North America.  Here, I define CAS (Central American Seaway) as the ocean gap that occurred along the tectonic boundary between the South American plate and the Panama microplate.  This definition is important, because deep water (>1000m) is often found associated to a plate-tectonic boundary (like in this case, South American plate and Panama microplate).  It has been argued that the closer of CAS at 4.2-3.5 Ma produced both 1) the onset of the thermohaline circulation, and 2) the onset of the northern hemisphere glaciation.  Both arguments have been heavily criticized because the onset of the thermohaline circulation has shown to be much older ~12-10 Ma, and paleoceanographic models indicate that closing CAS does not have a significant effect on Artic ice volumen.  Our research indicates that CAS closes around 10-12 Ma, interrupting the interchange of deep/intermediate water between the Caribbean and the Pacific along CAS.  This event is strong enough to initiate the thermohaline circulation as both our climatic modeling predicts, and empirical data indicates.  It is important to point out, however, that shallow water exchange between Caribbean and Pacific continued until 3.5 as earlier research have fully demonstrated, but this exchange was not along CAS, it was mostly shallow water, and the influx is not strong enough to change significantly either the Atlantic or the thermohaline circulation.

If the thermohaline onset at 3.5 Ma does not hold, even less the connection between the closer of the isthmus and the onset of the artic glaciation, as the whole argument as been based on the connection between CAS and the thermohaline circulation.
Biologists have been using 3.5 Ma as the date for the onset of terrestrial migrations on both directions across the isthmus, or the split of marine populations between the Caribbean and the Pacific.  Our research indicates that the timing and dynamic of the exchange depends on what group of the biota you are looking at. The early Miocene macrobotanical and palynological record from Panama indicates an earlier crossing for many South American plant lineages (e.g., Humiriaceae, Annonaceae, Euphorbiaceae). It seems that plants were able to cross the CAS much earlier (at least 10 Ma before) than other groups, mainly mammals. Other recent fossils findings by our intense paleontological exploration in the Canal have found earlier migrations (~19 Ma) from South America into Panama across CAS of turtles, snakes, and crocodiles.  Genetic evidence also indicates earlier exchanges of bees, tree-frogs, salamanders, and freshwater Poecilia fishes. Mammals, on the other hand, do not have an active exchange until much later times, starting at 10 Ma, and an acceleration at 2.7 Ma. Only two mammal lineages from South American provenance have been found in the Miocene of Panama (bat and monkeys).  These findings underscore that a 3.5 Ma age may not be a good a-priori assumption of migration or splitting.  The dispersal capabilities must be taken into account, as the fossil record and molecular analysis cited above have shown.  The expansion of the Panama Canal has provided an amazing opportunity to further explore the geology and paleontology of the isthmus of Panama, a puzzle that still is not fully solved.

Jiménez, Iván; Loza I; Tello S; Jørgensen P; Fuentes AF; Cayola L; Cornejo M; Macía MJ, Arellano G; Miranda TB; Quisbert-Quispe J; Torrez V

Research and Conservation Division, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA; Department of Biology, University if Missouri-St. Louis, USA; Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia; Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Spain; Department of Biology, University of Leuven, Belgium

Assembly of a regional flora in the tropical Andes

Tertiary Andean orogeny is widely acknowledged to have determined current spatial patterns of plant diversity across the Neotropics, but debate persists as to how it did so. A prominent hypothesis suggests that, as the Andes rose, newly emerging environments were occupied mostly by immigrating clades of pre-adapted species, and less so by species originating from in situ adaptive radiation. This hypothesis predicts that species turnover across elevational gradients reflects replacement of clades that diverged from each other before the Andean uplift (pre-gradient clades), while species turnover associated to geographic distance within narrow elevation bands reflects diversification within pre-gradient clades. We tested these predictions by integrating information on lineage divergence times with data on species distribution across a 4,000 m elevational gradient of known geologic history in the Bolivian Andes. Our results supported both predictions, and suggest that Andean uplift resulted in limited adaptive diversification of trees across elevational gradients.

beta-diversity; biotic assembly; ecological sorting; elevation gradient; evolutionary history

Lohmann, Lucia

Departamento de Botanica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Evolution and Biogeography of the Bignoniaceae: Insights into the origin of the Neotropical Flora

The history of present-day patterns of species diversity has fascinated biogeographers and ecologists for a long time. Yet, the exact factors that have shaped current distribution patterns remain to be understood. The plant family Bignoniaceae represents a conspicuous component of Pantropical forests, being particularly diverse and abundant in the Neotropics. The Neotropical representatives of the Bignoniaceae are distributed across multiple lineages, providing important insights into the origin of Neotropical ecosystems. Representatives of the Bignoniaceae occur in most ecological zones and exhibit considerable diversity in reproductive and vegetative morphology. The ecological importance of this group, combined with its broad distribution and morphological diversity make this plant family an excellent model for investigating the history of Tropical ecosystems, in particular the Neotropics where this plant family is most abundant and diverse. Here, I use broad-scale molecular phylogenetic data to investigate patterns of diversity across the Tropics. I then use fine-scale phylogenetic data of selected lineages to investigate finer-scale patterns of diversity within the Neotropics. Insights gained from ecological, morphological, genetic, biogeographic, paleontologic, and geologic data suggest that patterns of modern diversity have complex evolutionary histories.

Bignoniaceae, Biogeography, Diversification, Evolution, Neotropical Biodiversity

Madriñán, Santiago; Cortes A; Richardson JE

Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Department of Plant Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; Tropical Diversity Section, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Rapid speciation in the high Andes

“No zone of alpine vegetation in the temperate or cold parts of the globe can well be compared with that of the Páramos in the tropical Andes.” “Nowhere, perhaps, can be found collected together, in so small a space, productions so beautiful, and so remarkable in regard to the geography of plants.” Alexander von Humboldt Aspects of Nature & Personal narrative Understanding the processes that cause speciation is a key aim of evolutionary biology. Lineages or biomes that exhibit recent and rapid diversification are ideal model systems for determining these processes. Species rich biomes reported to be of relatively recent origin, i.e., since the beginning of the Miocene, include Mediterranean ecosystems such as the California Floristic Province, oceanic islands such as the Hawaiian archipelago and the Neotropical high elevation ecosystem of the Páramos. Páramos constitute grasslands above the forest tree-line (at elevations of c. 2800–4700 m) with high species endemism. Organisms that occupy this ecosystem are a likely product of unique adaptations to an extreme environment that evolved during the last three to five million years when the Andes reached an altitude that was capable of sustaining this type of vegetation. Akin to the Galapagos Islands, made famous by Darwin's study on the evolution of finches, and seen as the quintessential laboratory for the study of evolutionary processes, we show that the Neotropical Páramos, a continental island system, offer a host of examples of comparable biological diversifications. Darwin’s finches diversified into 15 extant spp. during the last 2.3 Ma at a rate of SRln=0.876, but we report on nine plant groups from the Páramo ecosystem with higher diversification rates. We compared diversification rates of lineages in fast evolving biomes using 73 dated molecular phylogenies. We demonstrate that average diversification rates of Páramo plant lineages are faster than those of other reportedly fast evolving hotspots and that the faster evolving lineages are more likely to be found in Páramos than the other hotspots. Páramos therefore represent the ideal model system for studying diversification processes. Most of the speciation events that we observed in the Páramos occurred during the Pleistocene possibly due to the effects of species range contraction and expansion that may have resulted from the well-documented climatic changes during that period. Understanding these effects will assist with efforts to determine how future climatic changes will impact plant populations.

Magallón, Susana; Sandra Gómez Acevedo; Luna Sánchez Reyes; Tania Hernández Hernández

Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., México; Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., México; Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.

A metacalibrated relaxed clock analysis of flowering plants

Flowering plants (Angiospermae) resulted from an evolutionary radiation that produced an extraordinary species-richness, morphological and functional diversity, and the dominant producers in modern terrestrial ecosystems. Available estimates of the onset of the diversification of angiosperms are incongruent, because those derived from molecular clocks are different from each other, and most are substantially older than the oldest unequivocal angiosperms fossils, from the Early Cretaceous. The goal of this study is to date the angiosperm phylogenetic tree using relaxed molecular clock methods, including a comprehensive taxonomic representation, incorporating a large number of fossil-derived temporal constraints, and implementing minimum and maximum bounds to the angiosperm crown node, derived from a quantitative method that considers the fossil record across the phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic tree includes ca. 800 terminals that represent 371 angiosperm families. A thorough literature-based review of the angiosperm fossil record yielded a data base with several thousand records, from which we selected those that reliably represent the oldest record of well-supported clades, spanning from genera to orders. The selected fossils were implemented as conservative minimum age constraints to particular nodes in the tree. The angiosperm crown node was circumscribed to a time interval bounded in the Early Cretaceous. Dating was conducted with penalized likelihood using TreePL and r8s, and with an uncorrelated relaxed clock method implemented in BEAST. The obtained timetree represents a reliable chronological framework not only for the origin of major angiosperm clades, but also for morphological evolution and the establishment of modern terrestrial biomes, as well as the possible codiversification of different biological groups, e.g., ferns, lycopsids, mycorrhizal fungi, as well as diverse types of pollinators.

Marchant, Sergio; Moran AL; Marko PB

Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, United States of America

Trans-tropical dispersal or tropical extinction? The origins of the antitropical distribution of the gooseneck barnacle Pollicipes elegans

By studying the origins of antitropicality, biogeographers can evaluate the importance of tropical regions as a barrier to gene flow and may identify the mechanisms that contribute to diversification in extratropical regions. Here, we use phylogeographic and population genetic methods to discriminate between two primary hypotheses about the origin of the largely antitropical distribution of the barnacle Pollicipes elegans: trans-tropical dispersal versus vicariance through tropical extinction. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase-1 sequences were gathered to reconstruct the demographic history of Pollicipes elegans. Sequence diversity statistics were estimated and phylogenetic analyses were conducted for eight populations within the species’ range. Demographic parameters were inferred with coalescent-based methods. Four demographic models of antitropicality in P. elegans were compared with Approximate Bayesian Computational (ABC) methods. Nucleotide diversity peaked in the centre of the species’ range in El Salvador and was lower at higher latitudes in Mexico and Peru. Haplotypes from El Salvadorian populations also showed a deeper coalescence. We found a deep phylogeographical break between Mexico and all populations to the south, with more modest differentiation between El Salvador and Peru. Isolation-with-migration analyses showed no significant evidence of gene flow between all three regions. ABC testing found strong support for an out-of-the tropics model of antitropicality for P. elegans. We found little evidence for a stepping-stone history of trans-tropical colonization but instead found strong evidence for a tropical origin model for the largely antitropical distribution of P. elegans. Changes in the sea surface temperature are likely the main mechanisms driving tropical extinction, a phenomenon that is congruent with the out-of-the tropics model of latitudinal diversification.

ABC, coalescent, demographic history, out-of-the tropics, phylogeography

Miloslavich, Patricia; Cruz JJ; Palomo G; Bigatti G; Gutierrez J, Carranza A; Pellizzari F, Rocha R; Lotufo T; Barrios F; Flores A; Krull M; Gobin J; Hernandez A; Herrera C; Mora C; Londoño-Cruz E; Lazarus F; Cardenas M; Mora E; Romero L; Gil P; Sepulveda R; Macaya E; Navarrete S

Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela; Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardo Rivadavia, Argentina; Centro Nacional Patagónico, Argentina; Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina; Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Uruguay, Uruguay; Universidade Estadual do Paraná, Brazil; Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil; Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil; Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil; Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brazil; Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil; University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago; Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela; University of Hawaii, USA; Universidad del Valle, Colombia; Universidad del Valle, Colombia; Bioelite, Ecuador; Universidad de Guayaquil, Ecuador; Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru; Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru; Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile; Universidad de Concepción, Chile; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile

Biodiversity Patterns in intertidal rocky shores along the South American coast: the SARCE network

The South American Research Group on Coastal Ecosystems (SARCE) was established in 2010 as a legacy of the Census of Marine Life to assess marine diversity and biomass along both coasts of South America through an international collaboration. The main goals of SARCE are to:

• Test hypotheses about latitudinal gradients and patterns of local and regional biodiversity

• Identify the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

• Assess the effect of environmental gradients and anthropogenic stressors

• Carry out capacity building and training activities aimed to solve environmental problems for the benefit of society

The SARCE network includes more than 30 researchers from 9 South American coastal countries and has sampled with a standardized protocol in 129 sites since 2010 recording information for 928 taxa in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Trinidad & Tobago. The database at present holds data on: a) Abundance of mobile organisms, b) Biomass of mobile organisms, c) Cover of sessile organisms, d) Biomass of sessile organisms, e) Presence/Absence of species (mobile + sessile organisms), and f) Biomass. Analysis of the data have shown interesting and different biodiversity latitudinal trends in the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America, and a longitudinal biodiversity trend at 11° N in the Southern Caribbean from east Colombia to Trinidad & Tobago.

SARCE has also carried out education & outreach activities in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Chile. Such activities include the implementation of a simplified protocol by highschool students and teachers, preparation of teaching material (taxonomic identification guides of the most common species), engagement of the public through schools and SCUBA activities, and including the protocol in the marine biology curricula at some universities.

South America; marine biodiversity; intertidal; latitudinal gradients

Morrone, Juan J.

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Toward a biogeographic regionalization of the Neotropics

The results of panbiogeographic, endemicity and cladistic biogeographic analyses are integrated to provide a general regionalization of the Neotropics. The Neotropical region corresponds to the tropical areas of the New World, in most of South America, Central America, southern and central Mexico, and the Antilles (southern Florida, occasionally assigned to the Neotropical region, has been shown recently to belong to the Nearctic region). In Mexico, the Neotropical region overlaps with the Nearctic region in the Mexican transition zone, whereas in South America it overlaps with the Andean region in the South American transition zone. A regionalization is provided, with explicit area definitions and a standardized nomenclature following the International Code of Area Nomenclature. The following subregions and transition zones are recognized: (1) Mexican transition zone (mountainous areas of central and southern Mexico and northern Central America); (2) Antillean subregion (West Indies and the Bahamas Islands); (3) Brazilian subregion (southern and central Mexico, Central America and northwestern South America; it includes the Mesoamerican, Northwestern South American, Northern Amazonian, and South Brazilian dominions); (4) Chacoan subregion (southeastern South America; it includes the Southeastern Amazonian, Chacoan, and Parana dominions); and (5) South American transition zone (Highlands of the Andes between western Venezuela and northern Chile and central western Argentina). A total of 53 provinces are recognized.

Sawaya, Ricardo J; Guedes TB; Nogueira CC

Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil; Laboratório de Herpetologia, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP), Brazil

Biogeography, vicariance, and conservation of snakes of the neglected and endangered Caatinga region, northeastern Brazil

A critical step for biogeography is to define basic distribution patterns, which provide the basis for hypotheses on the evolution of biodiversity. Natural biogeographical units are the most valuable source of information on which spatial portions of biodiversity should be conserved. Under conditions of imperfect allopatry, biogeographic units are usually complex. Biotic element analysis emerged as an alternative method for detecting biogeographic units, testing patterns of vicariance without requiring strict allopatry. Biogeographic studies in open Neotropical landscapes are less abundant than in forested areas, specially in the Brazilian Caatinga. We aimed here: (1) to define natural biogeographic units in the Caatinga region by identifying non-random clusters of codistributed snake species (biotic elements); (2) to provide the first test of the predictions of the vicariance model in the Caatinga; and (3) to assess the conservation of biogeographic patterns and processes by contrasting regionalized species distributions with habitat loss and protected area cover. We revised and georeferenced 7352 snake records by direct examination of voucher specimens in zoological collections and revision of literature. We tested two predictions of the vicariance model via biotic element analysis using two datasets (all taxa and endemics) mapped onto a 1° x 1° square grid across the Caatinga. And we examined the overlap between recovered biogeographic units and spatial patterns of habitat loss and protected area coverage. We recorded 112 snake species, of which 22 (20%) are endemics. The predictions of the vicariance model were corroborated by the detection of groups of species with significantly clustered ranges (biotic elements). The full dataset detected eight biotic elements. Three endemic biotic elements were found when only using endemics, corresponding to core areas of biotic elements of the larger dataset. The average habitat loss for species forming biotic elements was 46%, and was similar among biotic elements. Protected area coverage is different for species from different biotic elements, and most species’ ranges are very poorly represented in protected areas. The Caatinga harbours a peculiar snake fauna concordant with the predictions of the vicariance model. We detected poor overlap between biotic elements and protected areas, indicating that biogeographic patterns and processes are largely unprotected in this imperilled and neglected Neotropical region.

Biogeography; Conservation; Caatinga; Snakes; Biotic elements

Schnitzer, Stefan A

University of Wisconsin

The maintenance of liana diversity and the increasing effects of lianas on neotropical forest carbon dynamics

The maintenance of species diversity is a central question in ecology. Negative density dependence and habitat specialization have received strong empirical support as mechanisms that explain tree species diversity maintenance and distribution in tropical forests. In contrast, disturbance appears to play only a minor role. Few studies, however, have included plant groups other than trees, and thus it is unclear whether negative density dependence and habitat specialization are general mechanisms for the maintenance of woody plant species diversity. We used a large, spatially explicit dataset to test whether liana spatial distribution patterns are consistent with negative density dependence, habitat specialization, and disturbance. We also used a series of experimental liana removal studies to quantify the effect of lianas on forest community and ecosystem dynamics. We found compelling evidence for habitat specialization and negative density dependence for trees; however, only disturbance explained liana distribution and maintained liana diversity. Lianas responded to disturbance with high vegetative (clonal) reproduction, and liana species’ ability to produce clonal stems following disturbance resulted in a clumped spatial distribution. Thus, clonal reproduction following disturbance explains liana spatial distribution and diversity maintenance, whereas negative density dependence and habitat specialization, two prominent mechanisms contributing to tree species diversity and distribution, do not. Furthermore, removing lianas in disturbed areas resulted in a nearly 300% increase in tree growth and carbon uptake compared to control areas where lianas were present. Lianas themselves contributed only 24% of the tree biomass accumulation that they displaced. Scaling to the forest level revealed that lianas reduced net forest biomass accumulation by nearly 20%. Consequently, lianas reduce whole-forest carbon uptake despite their relatively low biomass. If lianas continue to increase in abundance and biomass in neotropical forests, which has been the trend over the past three decades, then their effects will also increase.

Carbon uptake, Forest dynamics, Lianas, Trees, Species diversity

Serrano, Juliet M.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Diversification of Sapotaceae in the Neotropics

Historical biogeographic studies based on dated phylogenies of the predominantly wet forest lowland family Sapotaceae are presented. Our results suggest rapid diversification of Sapotaceae subfamily Chrysophylloideae in the Neotropics on arrival from Africa in the Paleocene and a complex pattern of subsequent diversification influenced by Andean uplift. The timing of some phylogenetic splits were a direct result of the Andean orogeny but many more may have resulted from indirect changes in lowland substrate and fluvial patterns. Accessions of some species appear to be phylogenetically nested within others and our data provide insights into the patterns of speciation of rain forest trees. The near absence of Pleistocene speciation events suggests that glacial cycles during that epoch did not play a significant role in promoting speciation of Sapotaceae in the Neotropics though a more complete species sample would be necessary to confirm this. Speciation patterns in the pantropically distributed genus Manilkara will also be presented.

rainforest; phylogeny; diversification; migration; Sapotaceae

Serrano Serrano, Martha Liliana; Perret M; Salamin N

Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switezerland; Jardin Botanique de Genève, Switzerland; Dep. Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Evolution of the Gesneriaceae family in the Neotropics: multiple character shifts and diversification

The Gesnerioideae subfamily (Gesneriaceae) has a wide distribution over the Neotropical region and a high morphological diversity. Phylogenetic evidence derived from molecular data has been particularly useful to resolve monophyletic lineages in the group, commonly issued at the genus or tribe level. However, morphological evolution has been classically problematic. The labile evolution of characters such as fruit morphologies, pollination systems and growth habitat types have long puzzled taxonomists. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic relationships in the Gesnerioideae subfamily, using chloroplast and nuclear DNA, and a Bayesian framework. The mapping of character evolution provides support for multiple shifts in each trait, occurring within distantly related lineages. Correlated evolution between character states suggest an interaction between plant species specific morphologies and their ecological and biogeographical context. We further aim to investigate the effects of character evolution on the rates of diversification in the lineage.

Gesneriaceae, plant diversification, pollinator, epiphytism, rainforest

ter Steege, Hans

Naturalis Biodiversity Center; ATDN

The Amazon. Understanding the world’s most diverse forest

Recent decades have seen a major international effort to inventory tree communities in the Amazon Basin and Guiana Shield (Amazonia), but the vast extent and record diversity of these forests have hampered an understanding of basin-wide patterns. To overcome this obstacle we compiled and standardized species-level data on more than half a million trees in 1170 plots sampling all major lowland forest types to explore patterns of commonness, rarity, and richness. The ~6 million km2 Amazonian lowlands were divided into 1-degree cells and mean tree density was estimated for each cell using a loess regression model that included no environmental data but was based exclusively on the geographic location of tree plots. A similar model, allied with a bootstrapping exercise to quantify sampling error, was used to generate estimated Amazon-wide abundances of the 4962 valid species in the dataset. We estimated the total number of tree species in the Amazon by fitting the mean rank-abundance data to Fisher's log-series distribution. Our analyses suggest that lowland Amazonia harbors 3.9 x 1011 trees and ~16,000 tree species. We found 227 'hyper-dominant' species (1.4% of the total) to be so common that together they account for half of all trees in Amazonia, while the rarest 11,000 species account for just 0.12% of trees. Most hyper-dominants are habitat specialists that have large geographic ranges but are only dominant in 1 or 2 regions of the basin, and a median 41% of trees in individual plots belong to hyper-dominants. A disproportionate number of hyper-dominants are palms, Myristicaceae, and Lecythidaceae. An appreciation of how thoroughly common species dominate the basin has the potential to simplify research in Amazonian biogeochemistry, ecology, and vegetation mapping. Such advances are urgently needed in light of the >10,000 rare, poorly known, and potentially threatened tree species in the Amazon.

ATDN, Amazon, Tree-diversity, dominance

Valero, Katharina; Veith M; Lötters S

Dept of Biogeography, Trier University, Germany

Expanding the Understanding of Local Community Assembly in Adaptive Radiations

Communities are thought to be assembled by two types of filters: by the environment relating to the fundamental niche and by biotic interactions relating to the realized niche. Both filters include parameters related to functional traits, and their variation along environmental gradients. Here we infer the general importance of environmental filtering of a functional trait determining local community assembly within insular adaptive radiations on the example of Caribbean Anolis lizards. We constructed maps for the probability of presence of Anolis ecomorphs (ecology-morphology-behavior specialists) on the Greater Antilles and overlaid these to estimate ecomorph community completeness (ECC) over the landscape. We then tested for differences in environmental parameter spaces among islands for real and cross-fitted ECC values to see whether the underlying assembly filters are deterministic (i.e., similar among islands). We then compared information-theoretic models of climatic and landscape parameters among Greater Antillean islands and inferred whether body mass as functional trait determines ECC. We found areas with high ECC to be strongly correlated to environmental filters, partly related to elevation. The environmental parameters influencing high ECC differed among islands. With the exception of the Jamaican twig ecomorph (which we suspect to be misclassified), smaller ecomorphs were more restricted to higher elevations than larger ones which might reflect filtering on the basis of differential physiological restrictions of ecomorphs. Our results in Anolis show that local community assembly within adaptive island radiations of animals can be determined by environmental filtering of functional traits, independently from species composition and realized environmental niche space.

Environmental filtering; community assembly; body mass; adaptive radiation

Wiens, John

University of Arizona

Phylogenies, biogeography, and the origin and loss of tropical biodiversity

In this talk, I will discuss how we can use phylogenies and biogeography to understand the origins of biodiversity. I will discuss the general concepts and approaches and illustrate these with case studies from my collaborators and I on species richness patterns in amphibians and reptiles. I will also talk about how the processes that create biodiversity and richness patterns are related to those presently causing widespread loss of biodiversity in the tropics and elsewhere (e.g. due to habitat modification and climate change).
Biodiversity; Biogeography; Climate change; Niches; Phylogeny

Wilkinson, Mark

The Natural History Museum,m London, UK

An overview of Neotropical Caecilians

Caecilians are elongate, limbless, snake-like amphibians that together form the sister-group of Batrachia (frogs and salamanders). Caecilians are relatively poorly known because of their restriction to moist tropics (partly reflecting their Gondwanan origin) and their secretive lifestyles (most adults live in soil). I will present an overview of the neotropical caecilian fauna from taxonomic, natural history, conservation and biogeographic perspectives. Comparisons with other continental caecilian faunas suggest that the neotropical fauna is clearly the most ecologically diverse (it includes the only caecilians that are aquatic as adults, and the only lungless forms) and, although the fauna is fairly speciose, many described species are known from very few specimens and the rate of discovery of new species has, until very recently, been comparatively low. I suggest that this is due to a lack of attention rather than being reflective of little as yet undescribed caecilian biodiversity in the tropics. The lack of study is reflected also in the slow growth of basic natural history data, especially on reproductive biology, although some dramatic discoveries have been made recently. Apart from some seemingly obvious broad-scale biogeographic patterns, and some speculation on the history of the caecilians of Central America, there has been relatively little concerted study of caecilian biogeography despite their presenting interesting challenges and open questions. How, for example, does their burrowing lifestyle impact upon their dispersal capabilities. Are widespread species such as Siphonops annulatus (which is known from the Atlantic to the Andes and from Argentina to Venezuela) and Potomotyphlus kaupii (known from Peru to French Guiana) really a single species or do they represent species complexes. Does the answer differ for terrestrial (Siphonops) and aquatic (Potomotyphlus) species. I hope to provoke some discussion of the problems that really limited distributional data and much less limited taxonomic uncertainty pose for meaningful biogeographic analysis.

Amphibia; Gymnophiona; Biodiversity; Biogeography

POSTERS

Armesto, Luis O.; J. Celsa Señaris

Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC)

Biogeographic patterns of anurans in the northern Andes

Uplift of the Andes is considered as most influential geological event in in the diversification of the South American tropical biota. We describe and analyse historical and contemporary factors proposed to explain current biogeographic patterns of anurans in the northern Andes. For this, we reviewed lists of species from Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, and literature on biogeographic hypotheses of the most representative families in this region. We found that the northern Andes harbor 715 species of anurans, being families Craugastoridae, Dendrobatidae, Bufonidae, Centrolenidae e Hylidae the most numerous. Attitudinally, most species richness is concentrated between 1000 and 2000 m, and the Cordillera Central de Colombia has most species richness (194 spp.). Most species is endemic to the northern Andean, but none family is exclusive to the northern Andes. The historical biogeography has played an important role in determining these patterns, being geological history of the Andes the main cause of the current distribution of species of frogs and toads. Similarly, climatic and reproductive factors are also determining in distribution of the anurofauna in this región. Temperature is not clearly established as an influential factor, so pH of water or the availability of O2 are considered as other factors that should be studied. There are clades that have been able to retain their ancestral niche, influencing on current distribution patterns, but it only has been analysed in few taxa from the northern Andes.

Cordillera de los Andes, frogs and toads, historical biogeography, species richness

Cano, Ángela; Stauffer FW; Perret M

Conservatory and Botanical Garden of Geneva, Switzerland

Biogeography and Phylogenetic Structure of Palm (Arecaceae) Communities on the Isthmus of Panama: perspectives of a new-born project.

The position of Panama at the crossroad between North and South America has strongly influenced its outstanding floristic diversity. Classic theories suggest that the Panamanian flora has three main components: the Andean centered taxa, the Amazonian-centered taxa and the Laurasian species. Although floristic data support this idea, little is known about the historical assembly of this flora and the relative role of in situ diversification. Available studies suggest that, unlike animals, most floristic exchanges between North and South America occurred at different periods of time well before the final closure of the Isthmus. Land bridge conditions may have been less necessary for plant migration, but additional data are still needed to understand how routes and timing of dispersals differ among plant groups. In this study, palms (Arecaceae) are selected as a model group to address these questions. This family is a major component of tropical forests and an ideal study model to investigate the evolution of this ecosystem. Panamanian species will be sampled in lineages displaying different putative origin or center of diversity in North America (Coryphoideae), Andes (Geonomateae), Amazonia (Bactridinae), and Central America (Chamaedoreeae). Comparing the biogeographic history and diversification patterns among these groups may improve our understanding of the evolution of species assemblage in Panama and how it has been shaped by the complex geologic history of the region during the Cenozoic. In that context, the main goal of this project is to understand the processes that contributed to the origin and maintenance of palm diversity in Panama. In order to achieve this goal, we will 1) estimate the phylogenetic relationships and age of Panamanian palms based on the analysis of DNA sequences and molecular dating approaches using fossils (application of next generation sequencing methods will be also evaluated); 2) reconstruct the biogeographic history of different palm lineage in order to identify the different source areas of palm flora in Panama and the relative importance of dispersal versus in situ diversification; and 3) test how ecological preference and geographical barriers have shaped the community composition and phylogenetic diversity of the Panamanian palm flora.

Arecaceae; Isthmus of Panama; Biogeography; Community assemblages

Contreras Ortiz, Natalia Andrea; Madriñán S; Navas A.

Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática, Universidad de los Andes

Architecture of five Lupinus species from the Colombian Andes

Lupinus is a genus presenting a rapid radiation along the Andes, comprising about 85 species with a variety of growth forms. Previous studies of the architecture in cultivated species of Lupinus have been performed seeking for a better yield. However, detailed architectural descriptions of non-cultivated species remains poorly documented. The aim of this work is to describe and look for the main differences in the architecture of five species of Lupinus found in the Colombian Andes, specifically in Cundinamarca and Boyacá. These species were grouped in three basic growth forms: erect shrubs (L. mutabilis, L. chocontensis), prostrate shrubs (sp1, sp2) and basal rosette (L. alopecuroides). Qualitative and quantitative variations in the architecture were then compared between growth forms. Although there are some architectural features conserved for the genus, morphological variations were observed. Erect shrubs, L. mutabilis and L. chocontensis, have a similar architecture to that of the European cultivated species characterized by an erect branched main axis. They follow Stone’s growth model and have a mesotonic branching pattern. Prostrate shrubs are creeping dwarf plants covering the ground. An architectural model between that of Troll and Champagnat describes the growth of these shrubs, were secondary plagiotropy and basitonic branching are characteristic. Finally, L. alopecuroides are large rosettes of leaves with an acrotonic branching and with conspicuous inflorescences. This form follows Leeuwenberg’s model. The prostrate shrubs and the basal rosette present high modification in its architecture that seems to be a result of the adaptation to high- elevation zones in the Andes. Therefore, growth forms are the response not only to the genetic background of the group, but also to the environment to which they have adapted long time ago. However, the understanding of particular functional characters, their mechanisms and interaction with other morphological features, as growth form, is still needed to comprehend plant adaptation in tropical high-elevation ecosystems.

Lupinus, Páramo, Tropical high-elevation, Plant architecture, Growth form

Cuervo, Aura; Pérez-Consuegra, N.; Martínez, C; Montes, C; Jaramillo, C.

Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad de los Andes; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Cornell University

Salvinia fossils from Eocene - Oligocene and comparison with extant species

The fossil record of heterosporous water ferns (i.e. Salvinia, Azolla) in the neotropics is poorly known. The understanding of this wetland fossils is significant for interpretation of ancient lacustrine, marsh and swamp ecosystems and their response to global environmental change. In Colombia, Salvinia fossils have only been described for the Eocene Cerrejón Formation. In this work, we report Eocene-Oligocene Salvinia fossils from the Guandalay Formation near to Teruel, Huila. We found that the average size of Salvinia fossils is 2 - 8 mm which in comparison with extant species 8 - 25 mm is considerably smaller. The sporocarps of these Salvinia fossils show a reduced petiole and are fused into a unit-massullae. This differes from extant Salvinia species which have sporocarps associated with the rhizoids and are all separated by a petiole.

Neotropical, Eocene, Oligocene, Salvinia

Estrada -Villegas, Sergio; Schnitzer AS; Van Breugel; Hall J.

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States of America; Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, República de Panamá

Does competition redirect successional trajectories in regenerating tropical forests? An experimental test with lianas

Determining how ecosystems reassemble after disturbance and subsequently progress through successional stages is a fundamental question in ecology. For tropical forests, succession has been studied extensively; however, little is known about the role of lianas in forest succession and how they affect biomass accumulation. Omitting lianas from studies on succession may be a serious oversight; lianas rapidly colonize young forest sites where they can reduce tree growth and survival. Furthermore, lianas are increasing in abundance in neotropical forests, and thus they may have a greater effect on forest succession than in the recent past. Little is known about how lianas may redirect tropical succession by decreasing tree growth and survival, how they modify community composition by reducing the recruitment of shade-tolerant trees early in succession, or how they affect biomass uptake in secondary forests. The effects of lianas on succession are critical because regenerating young tropical forests are predicted to sequester substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon, thus potentially mitigating climate change. We are quantifying the effect of lianas on tree growth, survival, community composition, and biomass accumulation across a tropical chronosequence in 30 forests that vary from 2 to 30 years old in central Panama. In each forest we measured the diameter and identified all trees ≥ 1 cm diameter in three 20 x 50 m plots, and then cut the lianas from one of the three plots while other two remained as controls. We predict that lianas redirect tropical forest succession toward a low biomass forest composed mainly of lianas and pioneer trees. Given the large negative effect on trees, liana removal should reduce liana-tree competition and result in higher tree growth, survival, and thus biomass accumulation compared to forest plots where lianas are present. Due to the particularly strong effect of lianas on trees with high wood density, the reduction in biomass accumulation from lianas may be exacerbated. This large-scale, long-term liana removal experiment across a forest chronosequence gives us a unique opportunity to precisely quantify the effects of lianas on tropical forest succession and how lianas reduce biomass accumulation in regenerating secondary tropical forests.

Tropical secondary forest; biomass accumulation; succession; community structure; tree growth

Frost, Laura A; Lu-Irving P; Chau JH; Ragsac AC; Olmstead RG

Biology, University of Washington, US

Neotropical Diversification in the Lamiales

Lamiales are one of the most rapidly diversifying large clades of angiosperms and present a complicated pattern of phylogenetic relationships and evolution. We are particularly interested in understanding the patterns of diversification in groups that originated in the Neotropics and have diversified globally.

Lamiales; diversification; biogeography

González, Sebastián; Álvarez E

Grupo de Servicios ecosistémicos y cambio climático, Jardín Botánico de Medellín, Colombia

¿Qué factor explica mejor la β-diversidad?: Dispersión limitada o variación ambiental

La limitación en la dispersión es reconocida como uno de los principales mecanismos que promueven la variación de la composición de especies de entre sitios (i.e. β-diversidad) en bosques tropicales. Sin embargo, filtros ambientales pueden limitar la dispersión afectado a los vectores de dispersión (bióticos principalmente) o disminuyendo la sobrevivencia de los individuos. En este estudio evaluamos como la dispersión, la variación climática y/o su interacción afectan la β-diversidad. Para esto usamos 80 parcelas de 200m2 en el Caribe colombiano distribuidas en 15 grupos en un gradiente de precipitación (300-3000 mm año-1). La dispersión fue medida como la migración local según el modelo de teoría neutral. La β-diversidad fue medida como la fracción entre la diversidad local y la regional (diversidad del grupo de parcelas). Luego se relacionó la β-diversidad con la migración y la precipitación por medio de un modelo lineal generalizado para separar el efecto de estas, controlando por la distancia entre parcelas. La β-diversidad fue medida a nivel taxonómico y filogenético. Encontramos que la β-diversidad incrementa con la precipitación, la migración y su interacción. Sin embargo la variación florística es mejor explicada por la migración, mientras que la filogenética por la variación de la precipitación. Cada proceso puede tener efectos a escalas temporales diferentes, dispersión manteniendo el movimiento de especies en tiempos relativamente cortos y filtros ambientales permitiendo el establecimiento de especies a escalas más largas, siendo su interacción un mecanismo importante que permite la formación de los patrones espaciales de diversidad.

Migración; Teoría Neutral; Caribe; Precipitación; filo β-diversidad

Holguín, Claudia M.; Mueller J; Lawton-Rauh A; Agudelo P

School of Agricultural Forest and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, United States; Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, United States

Phylogenetic relationships of lance nematode Hoplolaimus galeatus and closely related species in the United States

Lance nematodes (Hoplolaimus spp.) are important ecto-endo plant parasites widely distributed in the United States, which feed on the roots of several field crops, grasses and trees. Twenty-nine species of this genus have been described, however in the United States H. galeatus is the most widely reported species affecting agricultural crops. Our preliminary data suggest that several species of Hoplolaimus are morphologically similar to H. galeatus and difficult to differentiate, and it is possible that some of these species are incorrectly documented as H. galeatus. Using morphology, phylogenetic and population genetic analyses, the aims of this study were 1) to identify Hoplolaimus species collected from different hosts and locations in the United States, 2) to determine the genetic variability within H. galeatus and phylogenetic relationships with closely related species, and 3) to estimate the genetic divergence and demographic parameters of the main Hoplolaimus clades found in this study. Molecular analyses were performed using sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS1) on 23 populations in the United States and multivariate analyses were performed on morphometric data for selected populations within the main lineages found in this study. We provide evidence that samples that are usually identified as H. galeatus correspond to a diverse group of species, with a pronounced genetic structure within each Hoplolaimus species/undescribed clade and are correlated with geographical regions. By using phylogenetic analyses, morphometrics and population demography of Hoplolaimus species in the United States we expect to dilucidate the diversity within this group and lead to better delimitation of lance nematode species in the United States.

Phylogenetics, nematodes, diversity, demography

Jolochin, Gabriela; Speranza, PR

Dpto. Biología Vegetal, Facultad de Agronomí, Universidad de la República, Uruguay

Análisis biogeográfico de la variabilidad genética de Eugenia uniflora (MYRTACEAE | Pitanga) en Uruguay

El conocimiento de la estructuración geográfica de la variabilidad genética es esencial para la utilización y la conservación in situ de los recursos fitogenéticos. Las áreas de refugio de vegetación y estructuración de la variabilidad genética se habrán generado debido a los cambios climáticos del Cuaternario. En Uruguay estas áreas se encuentran en las serranías del Este y en el norte de la Cuchilla de Haedo, coincidentemente con los hot spots en la biogeografía florística propuesta para el país. En este trabajo se analiza la estructura poblacional y biogeográfica de Eugenia uniflora cuyo rango de distribución comprende los hot spots propuestos y ha sido estudiada en zonas adyacentes, considerada un indicador para estimar la degradación de áreas naturales. Para ello se analizó la estructura de la variabilidad genética utilizando marcadores moleculares citoplasmáticos mediante la técnica de PCR-RFLP. Se encontraron nueve haplotipos para los espaciadores cloroplásticos psbA-trnH, psbK-trnS, trnQ-psbI, trnC-ycF6 y fragmento e-f de trnL-trnF, digeridos con la enzima de restricción Taq I. Los individuos de cada población mostraron uno o varios haplotipos. Se seleccionaron para la secuenciación dos accesiones por combinaciÃón de variantes haplotípicas para cada región cloroplástica y se analizaron las variantes en el tamaño y composición de los fragmentos amplificados. Se observa una marcada estructuración entre las poblaciones del noroeste del país y el resto coincidente con trabajos en otras especies. La distribución de los haplotipos evidencia un reducido flujo de semillas entre regiones, con la probable existencia de barreras biogeográficas asociadas a áreas de refugios pleistocénicos, como aquellas detectadas en otros grupos de plantas herbáceas de similar distribución en la región. La determinación de patrones biogeográficos permitirá establecer correspondencias con las hipótesis sobre las áreas de refugio encontradas para otras especies, contribuyendo a futuros trabajos vinculados al mejoramiento genético.

Pitanga; Eugenia uniflora; variabilidad genética; biogeografía

Montoya, Paola; Montoya P; Claramunt S; Cruz-Bernate L.

Departamenteo de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Colombia; Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, USA

Effects of productivity, heterogeneity, dispersal and speciation on species richness of Furnariidae (Aves:Passeriformes)

Traditionally, most macroecological studies have been limited to evaluating the relationship between contemporary climatic variables and species richness, not taking into account simultaneously the evolutionary process underlying these relationships. In this study, the effect of contemporary and historical factors was evaluated on the species richness, using as a model a group of birds widely distributed in the Neotropics (Ovenbirds and woodcreepers, Aves: Furnariidae). In addition to contemporary factors (primary productivity and environmental heterogeneity), two additional factors that can directly changes the number of species in an area were analyzed: speciation rates, estimated from a calibrated phylogeny, and the dispersal ability, achieved from wing morphology. To evaluate these relationships, spatial regressions and path analysis in two resolutions (25x25 and 100x100 km 2 ) were used. Differences between the richness patterns in each resolution class were found, however the relationships between the predictors and the species richness were similar. The findings support the importance of productivity over the heterogeneity, as a determinant factor of species richness. Additionally, we found little relationship between the speciation rates and the dispersal ability with the species richness, suggesting that these processes had little influence in generating current patterns of Furnariidae species richness. It is possible that differential rates of extinction or age differences in different regions have had more influence on the generation of patterns of species richness of this birds group.

Diversification; Neotropic; Adpative radiation; Macroecological patterns; Diversity gradient

Morales-Briones, Diego F.; Tank DC

Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho

Origin and phylogeny of Lachemilla (Rosaceae)

The genus Lachemilla (Rosaceae) comprises ca. 80 species and occurs from northern México to northern Chile and Argentina between 2200 and 5000 m. Lachemilla is one of the most important and diverse groups of the Andean páramo and its diversity center is northern South America. In the northern Andes Lachemilla occurs in all ecological zones, ranging from the upper margins of the cloud forest to the dry grasslands and shrub-steppe habitats, and even occurs in aquatic to semi-aquatic regions of the páramo, suggesting that this diversity may be the result of an adaptive radiation. Using a cpDNA data set of Rosaceae we estimated the age of Lachemilla between 20.8 to 22.5 MA and an analysis of patterns of diversification not show shift in the rates of diversification in Lachemilla. Using next-generation sequencing with a combined target enrichment and genome skimming strategy we present a nuclear multi-locus and complete chloroplast phylogeny of 32 species of Lachemilla and relatives. Finally we present a novel method for DNA sequence generation using microfluidic PCR and next-generation sequencing.

Nürk, Nicolai; Scheriau C; Madriñán S

Department of Biodiversity and Plant Systematics, Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Germany; Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Explosive radiation in high Andean Hypericum

The páramos, high-elevation Andean grasslands ranging from ca. 2800 m to the snow line, harbor one of the fastest evolving biomes worldwide since their appearance in the northern Andes 3–5 million years (Ma) ago. Hypericum (St. John’s wort), with over 65% of its Neotropical species, has a center of diversity in these high Mountain ecosystems. Using nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of a broad sample of New World Hypericum species we investigate phylogenetic patterns, estimate divergence times, and provide the first insights into diversification rates within the genus in the Neotropics. Two lineages appear to have independently dispersed into South America around 3.5 Ma ago, one of which has radiated in the páramos (Brathys). We find strong support for the polyphyly of section Trigynobrathys, several species of which group within Brathys, while others are found in temperate lowland South America (Trigynobrathys s.str.). All páramo species of Hypericum group in one clade. Within these páramo Hypericum species enormous phenotypic evolution has taken place (life forms from arborescent to prostrate shrubs) evidently in a short time frame. We hypothesize multiple mechanisms to be responsible for the low differentiation in the ITS region contrary to the high morphological diversity found in Hypericum in the páramos. Amongst these may be ongoing hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting, as well as the putative adaptive radiation, which can explain the contrast between phenotypic diversity and the close phylogenetic relationships.

adaptive radiation; Andes Mountains; rDNA ITS phylogenetics; Páramos; St. John's wort

Ortiz-Yusty, Carlos E.; Ortiz-Yusty CE; Zamora JG; Daza JM

Grupo Herpetológico de Antioquia, Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia; Grupo Ecofaunas, Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia- Medellín, Medellín, Colombia

Altitudinal variation and the phylogenetic structure of anuran communities from the northern Andes

How historical processes affect contemporary patterns of biodiversity across environmental gradients is a central question in ecology and biogeography. According to the phylogenetic niche conservatism hypothesis, the evolutionary niche dynamics during lineage divergence results in the altitudinal diversity gradient. Here we test three predictions of the phylogenetic niche conservatism hypothesis for the altitudinal gradient of frog assemblages from the northern Andes by examining geographical patterns of species richness (SR), phylogenetic structure of communities (PSV) and mean root distance (MRD). Distribution maps for 670 anuran species and four environmental variables were generalized onto grid maps of 10,938 5km x 5km cells covering the northern Andean region in Colombia. Correlation analysis and RandomForest tree regressions were used to relate richness, phylogenetic structure and mean root distance with annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, temperature and precipitation seasonality. We found a high geographical variation across the altitudinal gradients in the northern Andean region. Communities at high elevations and cooler regions tend to be phylogenetically clustered, more derived and less diverse than communities at low elevations and warm areas. Both PSV and MRD were correlated with temperature, however SR was mainly correlated with precipitation and no dependence between SR and PSV or MRD was detected. In general, we did not find support for the phylogenetic niche conservatism hypothesis as the process determining the altitudinal diversity gradient in anuran communities. These results indicate that climate affects anuran diversity in different ways and niche dynamics during speciation influences the species composition in a community through the phylogenetic structure but not the number of species that can persist in it.

Niche conservatism; Altitudinal gradients; Community structure

Banda-R, K.; R.T. Pennington; J. Weintritt

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

DRYFLOR: Latin American Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest Floristic Network

http://elmer.rbge.org.uk/dryflor/

Seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) is the most threatened tropical forest in the world. Though its overall plant species diversity is lower than in neighbouring biomes such as rain forest, species endemism can be high and its conservation has often been neglected. DRYFLOR is a research network that aims to understand the flora of dry forests at a broad scale across the Neotropics in order to promote their conservation. DRYFLOR will carry out continental scale biogeographic analyses relevant to setting international research and conservation priorities for neotropical dry forest. These biogeographic analyses would be the first based upon robust floristic data from across the full geographical extent of neotropical dry forest.

Perez Consuegra, Nicolas; Federico Moreno, Juan David Carrillo & Carlos Jaramillo

Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Gliptodontes del Mioceno y Plioceno de la Alta Guajira Colombiana

El clado Xenarthra (e.g., perezosos, armadillos, osos hormigueros) tiene los primeros registros en América del sur (AS) durante el Paleoceno (35 – 37 Ma) (Kay et al. 1999; Hill 2006; Scillato-Yané 1976) Este grupo formo parte de la fauna endémica que habito en el continente desde hace 37 Ma y hasta hace 10 000 años. Tras el levantamiento del Istmo de Panamá y el cierre del corredor marino de América central hace aproximadamente 3 Ma, se presentó el Gran Intercambio Biótico Americano (GABI) con el cual Gliptodontes, Perezosos y Pampateridos migraron a América del norte (AN). Registros de fósiles encontrados en La Venta (Grupo Honda) (A. A. Carlini et al. 1997) (13 – 11 Ma), Urumaco en Venezuela (9 – 6 Ma) y Acre en Brasil (Cozzuol 2006)(9 – 6.8 Ma) sugieren que los gliptodontes migraron a AN durante el Plioceno (3.9 Ma. Castañeda & Miller 2004) donde se diversificaron y entraron de nuevo al norte AS durante el Pleistoceno tardío (Alfredo A. Carlini, Zurita, and Aguilera 2008; Zurita et al. 2011). Sin embargo para probar esta hipótesis y tener una visión más clara de los cambios de diversidad de este grupo durante el tiempo geológico y ver la respuesta de estos al GABI es necesario estudiar registros fosilíferos en localidades tropicales cercanas al istmo. Debido a esto, aquí presentamos los resultados taxonómicos preliminares de ejemplares fósiles de Xenarthra (i.e., osteodermos, vertebras y apéndices) colectados durante los años 2011 y 2013 en la Alta Guajira colombiana (AGC), Formación Castilletes (Mioceno medio ~17 – 15 Ma) y Formación Ware (Plioceno ~5- 2Ma). Estas dos formaciones afloran en los alrededores del municipio de Puerto López.

Xenarthra; Paleobiogeography; Boreostemma; Guajira; Neotropical

Rodriguez, Luis A; Crawford AJ

BIOMICS, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Factores históricos y ambientales que determinan el límite de distribución de las especies: Anuros de la Región Natural Chocó como modelo de estudio

El rango de distribución de una especie es esencialmente la expresión de su nicho ecológico en el espacio y está determinado por la disponibilidad de ambiente adecuado, por lo tanto las poblaciones no pueden expandirse más rápido de lo que el ambiente se hace favorable. Por otro lado, la historia de las especies está directamente implicada en su capacidad para colonizar nuevas áreas. En este contexto surge la pregunta ¿qué factores históricos y ambientales determinan el límite de distribución de las especies? Este proyecto combinó análisis filogeográficos y de modelamiento de distribución de especies (SDM) usando anuros de la Región Natural Chocó como modelo de estudio y el Gran Intercambio de Biota Americana (GABI) como escenario, este último relevante por ser un evento reciente y probablemente los organismos que participaron en el, aún se encuentran en un proceso activo de dispersión. El anáisis filogenético de las especies evaluadas fue coherente con estudios moleculares que sugieren un intercambio de biota entre el Mioceno medio y el Mioceno tardío. Los datos entre las especies no siempre fueron consistentes con la hipótesis de que el cierre del Istmo de Panamá ocurrió en la Serranía de Baudó como proponen estudios geológicos recientes. El estudio presenta evidencia de que tanto las barreras físicas como factores ambientales climáticos determinan el límite de distribución de las especies. Adicionalmente, un proceso de dispersión activo puede estar involucrado en la determinación del límite. Este estudio supone un avance en el conocimiento de los factores que limitan la distribución, bajo esta premisa, podríamos decir que tanto factores ambientales como la historia de las especies determinan el límite de distribucón de las especies.

Romero Alarcón, Viviana; Miranda-Esquivel DR

Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biogeografía, Universidad Industrial de Santander,Colombia

¿Es Chocó un área Biogeográfica?: Una visión desde áreas de endemismo bajo el criterio de óptimabilidad.

El Chocó biogeográfico es un área de gran importancia para la historia de las biotas neotropicales; no solo por estar directamente involucrado en el Gran Intercambio Biótico Americano (GABI), sino por tener una relación directa con otras áreas como los Andes y la Amazonia. Sin embargo, los límites de esta área no están claramente definidos ya que varian de autor a autor. En el presente trabajo se evalua sí el área Chocó tal y como fué propuesta por Morrone es recuperada bajo un análisis de optimabilidad. Utilizando datos georeferenciados disponible en ''Global Biodiversity Information Facility" (GBIF) para 295 especies de diversos grupos (Amphibia, Squamata, Testudines, Mammalia, Liliopsida y Magnoliopsida) presentes en el área de interes, se realizó un análisis de optimización de áreas de endemismo con el software VNDM 3.0 empleando dos tamaños de cuadricula (0.5º x 0.5º y 1º x 1º). Las áreas resultantes fueron sometidas a consenso, evaluando valores desde el 100 % hasta el 10 % de especies comunes.

Dado el tamaño de cuadrícula de 0.5º y la evaluación de los distintos valores de consenso, se recupera el límite oriental del área evaluada identificado como el piedemonte de la Cordillera Occidental, incluyendo la región de las tierras altas del Carmen de Atrato y San Jose del Palmar. Es importante resaltar que similar a lo encontrada por Ippi y Flores para áreas de endemismo de tortugas neotropicales, el anden Pacifico desde el norte de la Serrania del Baudo hasta la cuenca del Río Patía, se recupera en todas las reconstrucciones. Para el tamaño de cuadrícula de 1º y valores de consenso menores a 50 %, las áreas recuperadas son congruentes con la Provincia Biogeográfica Chocó-Magdalena propuesta por Hernandez et al., dado que el limite occidental es dilatado hasta el flaco oriental de la Cordillera Central y parte del Valle del Magdalena médio.

De esta forma bajo el criterio de optimabilidad, el área propuesta por Morrone como Provincia del Chocó nunca se recuperó en su totalidad; por ende, es posible que el Chocó Biogeográfico correponda a un área mas ámplia o a un conglomerado de áreas, pero no a una única área como se há propuesto.

Biogeográfico; Chocó; Criterio de óptimabilidad; VNDM; GBIF

Sarkinen, Tiina; Lehmann C

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences

Species-level biome model for South America – delivering baseline data for Ecology, Evolution and Earth System sciences

Earth System Science aims to understand our changing planet through mechanistic models of the biosphere. At the core of biosphere models are biomes, major vegetation types such as rain forests, which link the global processes of water and nutrient cycling with atmospheric circulation. Despite the central position of biomes in these models and biodiversity research as a whole, biomes remain poorly understood and inadequately mapped, especially in the Neotropics. Current biome maps of South America fail to distinguish ecologically meaningful vegetation units, because structurally similar biomes such as tropical dry forests and the subtropical Chaco woodlands are mixed in a single vegetation type despite their floristic and ecological uniqueness. Enhancing the way that complex ecosystems are depicted in Earth System models and biodiversity science in general has been identified as a core need, and will require next generation, high resolution biome maps. Our project aims to address this by delivering a new species-level biome map for South America that recognises biomes as units that reflect evolution, ecology as well as function. The map will allow the linking of species-level data such as Plant Functional Traits (PFT, e.g., wood density) and allometry models to biomes. The linking of PFTs with digitised specimen data and biome delimitation is crucial in order to enhance current models of carbon flux, woody biomass and ecosystem services. The linking of biomes with wood density and allometry models would allow better estimation of woody biomass across the continent by using the biome map as a tool to ground-truth remote sensed data. Current biomass maps based on remote sensed data fail to depict known trends in biomass distribution across the Amazon basin, and better methods are urgently needed to direct environmental policy programs such as REDD+ which depend on our ability to accurately estimate biomass at continental scales.

South America; biomes; map; vegetation ecology; functional trait diversity

Tenorio, Elkin A; Bravo G; Isler M; Montoya P; Brumfield R; Cadena D.

Universidad del Quindío; Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, Louisiana, United States of America; Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America; Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia; Dpto. Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Effect of dispersal abilities and climatic niche breadth on avian diversification rates

Understanding the factors that promote biotic diversification and determining how such factors vary geographically in relation to the environment are issues of interest for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Dispersal abilities have been shown to partially explain variation among organisms in diversification rates, but how this relationship may change under different geographical and environmental contexts remains unknown. Here we use morphological, climatic and phylogenetic data sets to evaluate the hypothesis that speciation rates are jointly influenced by dispersal
abilities and by thermal tolerances of species, and that the relative importance of these
variables depends on the geographic and environmental contexts. Specifically, we predicted that in clades diversifying in tropical highlands, where there is a strong influence of physical and climatic barriers on population differentiation, diversification rates should be related to both dispersal ability and thermal niche breadth. In tropical lowlands, where we assumed a strong effect of physical barriers (e.g. Amazonian rivers) and a minor influence of thermal barriers due to relative thermal uniformity across space, we predicted diversification rates to be related to dispersal abilities, but not to thermal niche breadth. To test this hypothesis, we studied four avian clades endemic to the New World showing contrasting distribution patterns (highlands or lowlands). Our results showed that regardless of the geographic area, dispersal abilities were related to speciation rates and such relationship was modal (i.e. the highest speciation rates occurred at intermediate levels of dispersal ability). Also, in agreement with our hypothesis, thermal niche breadth was significantly related, in modal fashion, to speciation rates in highland clades. However, contrary to our prediction, thermal niche breadth also related significantly to speciation rates in clades diversifying in the lowlands. Our results support that regardless of the relative influence of temperature in different geographical regions, both dispersal abilities and thermal niche breadth have an influence on diversification rates. Our results potentially link microevolutionary processes (i.e. gene flow) mediated by organismal traits related to dispersal with macroevolutionary mechanisms underlying spatial patterns of biodiversity.

macroevolution; physical and climatic barriers ; speciation; thermal tolerances; highlands; lowlands

Uribe, Juanes; Templado J; Williams ST; Álvarez R; Zardoya R

Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Spain; Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, UK

Phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic patterns of the subfamily Cantharidinae (Vetigasteropoda: Trochidae)

The subfamily Cantaridinae is a morphologically diverse natural group of marine snails within the family Trochidae (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda), which inhabits marine rocky shores, sea grass beds and depth's hard substrate. The subfamily is distributed in Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian-Sea and Indo-pacific seawaters. Traditionally, systematics of the subfamily was based on morphological characters, and up to 15 genera were recognized. Recent molecular studies centred on Indo-Pacific species showed that morphology is rather homoplasious within the group. In this study, we sequenced both nuclear (28S rRNA) and mitochondrial (rrnL, rrnS and cox1) genes in Atlantic and Mediterranean genera of the subfamily, including Phorcus, Gibbula, Jujubinus, Callumbonella and Clelandella, as well as, genera of the subfamily from Eastern Africa and Indian Sea (Thalotia, Cantharidus and Oxystele) to track the phylogenetic relationship and biogeographic diversification within the different genera from Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Atlantic. We analysed newly determined sequence data together with previously published Indo-Pacific sequences gathering a final data set of up to 110 species. This study supports the close relationship between the subfamilies Stomatellinae and Cantharidinae, as previously suggested. Within Cantharidinae, the Mediterranean genera show the closest relationship with the genus Oxystele from the Indian Ocean. This would indicate a Tethys origin of Mediterranean cantharidins, and a subsequent post Miocene sharp diversification. Our phylogenetic analyses indicate, that Gibbula and Jujubinus are non-monophyletic genera, and that new genera need to be erected to resolve the taxonomy of the subfamily. Moreover, Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific Jujubinus appear to be unrelated. The genera Clelandella and Callumbonella of deep sea snails with previously uncertain taxonomic position are closely related to Mediterranean Jujubinus.

Cantharidinae; Trochidae; Phylogenetic; Biogeographic; Tethys

Valderrama, Eugenio; Stone G; Richardson JE

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh

Explaining the differences in African and South American species richness by comparing diversification rates: The Andean orogeny hypothesis

The Neotropics are considered as one of the most diverse regions of the already diverse tropical forests. I aim to test whether high neotropical species richness can be explained by higher (relative to other regions) phylogenetic diversification rates associated with speciation during uplift of the tropical Andes over the last ca. 25 my, and particularly the last 10 my. We estimate and compare diversification rates of the Andean-centred genus Renealmia in the Neotropics and Africa using a multi-locus phylogeny, and address the uncertainty inherent to estimation of diversification rates.

Neotropics, Africa, diversification rates, Andes, Renealmia

Vasquez, Angelly; Lopez-Victoria M; Daza JM

Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Universidad Javeriana, Colombia

Biogeographic origin of the endemic fauna of Malpelo, Tropical Eastern Pacific

Since Darwin’s theory, oceanic islands have amazed evolutionary biologists trying to understand the origin and diversification of their particular biota. Because of their unique characteristics in terms of geological origin, oceanic currents, distance to the mainland and the potential biological pool in the continent, making biogeographic generalizations is a very difficult task. It is likely that every oceanic island has its own historical scenario of how the biota was gained. Malpelo, located ca. 370 km off the nearest continental point, is the only oceanic island in the pacific of Colombia. It is a rocky ecosystem almost completely devoid of terrestrial vegetation but with a very productive marine environment. Because of its isolation, it harbors many endemic terrestrial and marine species with unknown evolutionary origin. Focusing on the endemic species, we are interested in determine the biogeographic scenarios involved in the origin and isolation of this particular fauna. We will be using a molecular phylogeographic approach to determine if common processes were involved in the colonization of the island, and to know if marine species and terrestrial species share the same phylogeographic patterns. Four terrestrial species (Anolis agassizi, Diplogosus millepunctatus, Phyllodactylus transversalis, Gecarcinus malpilensi) and two reef fishes (Chriolepis lepidotus and Acanthemblemaria stephensi) will be used as models. We will combine published phylogenies with new sequenced specimens from the island to determine the phylogenetic position of each species and will use comparative phylogeographic methods to test for a single or several pulses of colonization to better understand how the Malpelo community has been assembled. Preliminary results suggest that different biogeographic scenarios were involved in the establishment of the Malpelo island species. The terrestrial anole is sister to a Central American clade and the semiterrestrial decapod is related to a Cocos island congeneric. By using a phylogenetic perspective and assessing species with different dispersal capabilities, we expect to understand the role that different marine currents in the Eastern Tropical Pacific played in the composition of Malpelo´s biota.

Malpelo Island; endemic; phylogeographic; Colonization; biogeography.

Velásquez, Francisco J.; Christine D. Bacon; Alexandre Antonelli

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden; CINBIN, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia

Biome evolution in Iriarteeae palms

Iriarteeae comprise five genera and 32 species and includes keystone species essential for forest structure and ecological assembly such as Iriartea deltoidea and Socratea exorrhiza. The tribe is found in lowland to mid-elevation forests from Nicaragua to Bolivia and from the Pacific coast of South America to the eastern flanks of the Andes and east into the Guiana Shield. The phylogeny of Iriarteeae was inferred using 93% of sampled species represented by two or more individuals for 11 loci (5 chloroplast and 6 nuclear). To understand biome evolution species were classified in two ways: 1) as distributed in three broad biogeographic regions (Chocó, Andes, and Amazon) and 2) as highland or lowland species. These approaches allow us to avoid the difficulty in inferring biogeographic areas that are recently evolved and/or have a complex geological history. The pattern of lineage diversification corresponds to the geological periods of Andean orogeny and the formation of the Amazon basin. Diversification rates were higher in the Andes than in the Chocó and Amazon, and higher in the highlands compared to the lowlands. Furthermore, dispersal rates from the highlands to the lowlands were inferred to be much higher than vice versa. As expected, the rapid Andean radiation exhibited phylogenetic clustering, but interestingly, the high dispersal out of the highlands is detected in the randomness of the phylogenetic community in the lowlands. A lack of a pattern in the Choco was unexpected because of its putatively ancient Iriarteeae lineages and unique environmental niche. Andean taxa are important elements of the Amazonian community, even if they did colonize recently, which is potentially indicative of niche filling and competitive exclusion in the highlands.

Amazon, Andes, Arecaceae, diversification, Palmae, South America