Spatial imprints of plate tectonics on extant richness of terrestrial vertebrates

Type Article
Date 2017-05
Language English
Author(s) Descombes Patrice1, 2, Leprieur Fabien3, Albouy CamilleORCID1, 2, Heine Christian4, 5, Pellissier Loic1, 2
Affiliation(s) 1 : ETH, Landscape Ecol, Inst Terr Ecosyst, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
2 : Swiss Fed Res Inst WSL, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
3 : Univ Montpellier, UMR MARBEC, CNRS, IFREMER,IRD,UM, Pl Eugene Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier, France.
4 : Univ Sydney, EarthByte Grp, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
5 : Shell Int Explorat & Prod, The Hague, Netherlands.
Source Journal Of Biogeography (0305-0270) (Wiley), 2017-05 , Vol. 44 , N. 5 , P. 1185-1197
DOI 10.1111/jbi.12959
WOS© Times Cited 14
Keyword(s) amphibian, bird, continental drift, diversity, Indo-Pacific, Madagascar, mammal, plate tectonics, Southeast Asia, Wallace line
Abstract Aim

In interaction with past climate changes, it is likely that plate tectonics contributed to the shaping of current global species diversity, but so far this has not been statistically quantified at the global level. Here, we tested whether plate tectonics since the breakup of Gondwana left an imprint on current patterns of species richness of amphibians, birds and mammals.
Location

Global.
Methods

We reconstructed the absolute positions of continental plates since the Early Cretaceous and used this information to derive variables of latitudinal shifts and potential exchanges among landmasses that could have modulated species richness. Using a multi-model inference approach combining both contemporary and historical variables, we quantified the relative importance of variables related to plate tectonics in explaining the spatial variation of the richness of amphibians, birds and mammals. Next, we employed a moving window approach to test whether plate tectonics left a more marked imprint in specific regions.
Results

Plate tectonics left an imprint on current patterns of vertebrate species richness in geologically singular regions, especially in the Indo-Australian Archipelago and the region comprising eastern Africa and Madagascar. For birds and mammals, but not amphibians, we found a marked contrast in species richness across Australia and Southeast Asia and eastern Africa and Madagascar associated with plate tectonics. Moreover, the relationship between species richness and plate tectonics varied across taxonomic orders for birds and mammals.
Main conclusions

While no general imprint of plate tectonics was detected at the global scale, our regional analysis highlighted a substantial role of geodynamics in shaping current patterns of vertebrate species richness in Southeast Asia and Madagascar. Future studies should integrate the full range of processes associated with plate tectonics, including orogeny, not considered here.
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