1
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Cooper RB, Flannery-Sutherland JT, Silvestro D. DeepDive: estimating global biodiversity patterns through time using deep learning. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4199. [PMID: 38760390 PMCID: PMC11101433 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48434-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Understanding how biodiversity has changed through time is a central goal of evolutionary biology. However, estimates of past biodiversity are challenged by the inherent incompleteness of the fossil record, even when state-of-the-art statistical methods are applied to adjust estimates while correcting for sampling biases. Here we develop an approach based on stochastic simulations of biodiversity and a deep learning model to infer richness at global or regional scales through time while incorporating spatial, temporal and taxonomic sampling variation. Our method outperforms alternative approaches across simulated datasets, especially at large spatial scales, providing robust palaeodiversity estimates under a wide range of preservation scenarios. We apply our method on two empirical datasets of different taxonomic and temporal scope: the Permian-Triassic record of marine animals and the Cenozoic evolution of proboscideans. Our estimates provide a revised quantitative assessment of two mass extinctions in the marine record and reveal rapid diversification of proboscideans following their expansion out of Africa and a >70% diversity drop in the Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca B Cooper
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland.
| | | | - Daniele Silvestro
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Global Gothenburg Biodiversity Centre, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, 413 19, Sweden.
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2
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Wignall PB, Bond DPG. The great catastrophe: causes of the Permo-Triassic marine mass extinction. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad273. [PMID: 38156041 PMCID: PMC10753410 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The marine losses during the Permo-Triassic mass extinction were the worst ever experienced. All groups were badly affected, especially amongst the benthos (e.g. brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, foraminifers, ostracods). Planktonic populations underwent a fundamental change with eukaryotic algae being replaced by nitrogen-fixing bacteria, green-sulphur bacteria, sulphate-reducing bacteria and prasinophytes. Detailed studies of boundary sections, especially those in South China, have resolved the crisis to a ∼55 kyr interval straddling the Permo-Triassic boundary. Many of the losses occur at the beginning and end of this interval painting a picture of a two-phase extinction. Improved knowledge of the extinction has been supported by numerous geochemical studies that allow diverse proposed extinction mechanisms to be studied. A transition from oxygenated to anoxic-euxinic conditions is seen in most sections globally, although the intensity and timing shows regional variability. Decreased ocean ventilation coincides with rapidly rising temperatures and many extinction scenarios attribute the losses to both anoxia and high temperatures. Other kill mechanisms include ocean acidification for which there is conflicting support from geochemical proxies and, even less likely, siltation (burial under a massive influx of terrigenous sediment) which lacks substantive sedimentological evidence. The ultimate driver of the catastrophic changes at the end of the Permian was likely Siberian Trap eruptions and their associated carbon dioxide emissions with consequences such as warming, ocean stagnation and acidification. Volcanic winter episodes stemming from Siberian volcanism have also been linked to the crisis, but the short-term nature of these episodes (
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul B Wignall
- School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - David P G Bond
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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3
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Ontiveros DE, Beaugrand G, Lefebvre B, Marcilly CM, Servais T, Pohl A. Impact of global climate cooling on Ordovician marine biodiversity. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6098. [PMID: 37816739 PMCID: PMC10564867 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41685-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Global cooling has been proposed as a driver of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, the largest radiation of Phanerozoic marine animal Life. Yet, mechanistic understanding of the underlying pathways is lacking and other possible causes are debated. Here we couple a global climate model with a macroecological model to reconstruct global biodiversity patterns during the Ordovician. In our simulations, an inverted latitudinal biodiversity gradient characterizes the late Cambrian and Early Ordovician when climate was much warmer than today. During the Mid-Late Ordovician, climate cooling simultaneously permits the development of a modern latitudinal biodiversity gradient and an increase in global biodiversity. This increase is a consequence of the ecophysiological limitations to marine Life and is robust to uncertainties in both proxy-derived temperature reconstructions and organism physiology. First-order model-data agreement suggests that the most conspicuous rise in biodiversity over Earth's history - the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event - was primarily driven by global cooling.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gregory Beaugrand
- Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, CNRS, Univ. Lille, UMR 8187 LOG, F-62930, Wimereux, France
| | - Bertrand Lefebvre
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | | | - Thomas Servais
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8198-Evo-Eco-Paleo, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Alexandre Pohl
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France.
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4
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Pohl A, Stockey RG, Dai X, Yohler R, Le Hir G, Hülse D, Brayard A, Finnegan S, Ridgwell A. Why the Early Paleozoic was intrinsically prone to marine extinction. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg7679. [PMID: 37647393 PMCID: PMC10468122 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg7679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
The geological record of marine animal biodiversity reflects the interplay between changing rates of speciation versus extinction. Compared to mass extinctions, background extinctions have received little attention. To disentangle the different contributions of global climate state, continental configuration, and atmospheric oxygen concentration (pO2) to variations in background extinction rates, we drive an animal physiological model with the environmental outputs from an Earth system model across intervals spanning the past 541 million years. We find that climate and continental configuration combined to make extinction susceptibility an order of magnitude higher during the Early Paleozoic than during the rest of the Phanerozoic, consistent with extinction rates derived from paleontological databases. The high extinction susceptibility arises in the model from the limited geographical range of marine organisms. It stands even when assuming present-day pO2, suggesting that increasing oxygenation through the Paleozoic is not necessary to explain why extinction rates apparently declined with time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Pohl
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Richard G. Stockey
- School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Xu Dai
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Ryan Yohler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Guillaume Le Hir
- Université de Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Dominik Hülse
- Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Arnaud Brayard
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Seth Finnegan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Andy Ridgwell
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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5
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Tropical biodiversity linked to polar climate. Nature 2023; 614:626-628. [PMID: 36792895 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00392-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
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6
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Brodie JF, Mannion PD. The hierarchy of factors predicting the latitudinal diversity gradient. Trends Ecol Evol 2023; 38:15-23. [PMID: 36089412 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The numerous explanations for why Earth's biodiversity is concentrated at low latitudes fail to explain variation in the strength and even direction of the gradient through deep time. Consequently, we do not know if today's gradient is representative of what might be expected on other planets or is merely an idiosyncrasy of Earth's history. We propose a hierarchy of factors driving the latitudinal distribution of diversity: (i) over geologically long time spans, diversity is largely predicted by climate; (ii) when climatic gradients are shallow, diversity tracks habitat area; and (iii) historical contingencies linked to niche conservatism have geologically short-term, transient influence at most. Thus, latitudinal diversity gradients, although variable in strength and direction, are largely predictable on our planet and possibly others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jedediah F Brodie
- Division of Biological Sciences & Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA; Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94 300 Kota Samarahan, Malaysia.
| | - Philip D Mannion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
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7
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Understanding Spatiotemporal Variation in Richness and Rate of Within-Site Turnover for Vegetation Communities in Western Eurasia over the Last 4000 Years. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14121096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Vegetation communities are intricate networks of co-occurring species. Logistical challenges in collecting primary data means research often utilises short-term data from restricted geographical areas. In this study, we examine spatiotemporal change in richness and turnover of vascular plants and bryophytes over the last 4000 years at 23 sites in western Eurasia using high-resolution palaeoecological data. We find support for the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient and Altitudinal Diversity Gradient in both the overall vegetation community (arboreal and non-arboreal species) and the shrub and herb sub-community (non-arboreal species only), as well as a significant temporal increase in the gradient of both relationships. There was a temporal increase in (alpha) richness; the rate of turnover was high but temporally consistent for the overall vegetation community and high but decreasing over time for the shrub and herb sub-community. The rate of change in turnover was affected by latitude (steeper negative relationship at higher latitudes) and altitude (steeper negative relationship at lower altitudes). The Diversity-Stability Hypothesis was supported: vegetation communities changed from “lower richness, higher turnover” historically to “higher richness, lower turnover” more recently. Causal mechanisms for these complex interlinked biogeographical patterns remain ambiguous, but likely include climate change, non-native introductions, increasing homogenisation of generalist taxa, landscape simplification, and anthropogenic disturbance. Further research into drivers of the spatiotemporal patterns revealed here is a research priority, which is especially important in the context of biodiversity decline and climate change.
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8
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Sperling EA, Boag TH, Duncan MI, Endriga CR, Marquez JA, Mills DB, Monarrez PM, Sclafani JA, Stockey RG, Payne JL. Breathless through Time: Oxygen and Animals across Earth's History. THE BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN 2022; 243:184-206. [PMID: 36548971 DOI: 10.1086/721754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
AbstractOxygen levels in the atmosphere and ocean have changed dramatically over Earth history, with major impacts on marine life. Because the early part of Earth's history lacked both atmospheric oxygen and animals, a persistent co-evolutionary narrative has developed linking oxygen change with changes in animal diversity. Although it was long believed that oxygen rose to essentially modern levels around the Cambrian period, a more muted increase is now believed likely. Thus, if oxygen increase facilitated the Cambrian explosion, it did so by crossing critical ecological thresholds at low O2. Atmospheric oxygen likely remained at low or moderate levels through the early Paleozoic era, and this likely contributed to high metazoan extinction rates until oxygen finally rose to modern levels in the later Paleozoic. After this point, ocean deoxygenation (and marine mass extinctions) is increasingly linked to large igneous province eruptions-massive volcanic carbon inputs to the Earth system that caused global warming, ocean acidification, and oxygen loss. Although the timescales of these ancient events limit their utility as exact analogs for modern anthropogenic global change, the clear message from the geologic record is that large and rapid CO2 injections into the Earth system consistently cause the same deadly trio of stressors that are observed today. The next frontier in understanding the impact of oxygen changes (or, more broadly, temperature-dependent hypoxia) in deep time requires approaches from ecophysiology that will help conservation biologists better calibrate the response of the biosphere at large taxonomic, spatial, and temporal scales.
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9
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Learning from the past: opportunities for advancing ecological research and practice using palaeoecological data. Oecologia 2022; 199:275-287. [PMID: 35633388 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05190-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Palaeoecology involves analysis of fossil and sub-fossil evidence preserved within sediments to understand past species distributions, habitats and ecosystems. However, while palaeoecological research is sometimes made relevant to contemporary ecology, especially to advance understanding of biogeographical theory or inform habitat-based conservation at specific sites, most ecologists do not routinely incorporate palaeoecological evidence into their work. Thus most cross-discipline links are palaeoecology → ecology rather than ecology → palaeoecology. This is likely due to lack of awareness and/or the misnomer that palaeoecology invariably relates to the "distant past" (thousands of years) rather than being applicable to the "recent past" (last ~ 100-200 years). Here, we highlight opportunities for greater integration of palaeoecology within contemporary ecological research, policy, and practice. We identify situations where palaeoecology has been, or could be, used to (1) quantify recent temporal change (e.g. population dynamics; predator-prey cycles); (2) "rewind" to a particular point in ecological time (e.g. setting restoration/rewilding targets; classifying cryptogenic species); (3) understand current ecological processes that are hard to study real-time (e.g. identifying keystone species; detecting ecological tipping points); (4) complement primary data and historical records to bridge knowledge gaps (e.g. informing reintroductions and bioindicator frameworks); (5) disentangle natural and anthropogenic processes (e.g. climate change); and (6) draw palaeoecological analogues (e.g. impacts of pests). We conclude that the possibilities for better uniting ecology and palaeoecology to form an emerging cross-boundary paradigm are as extensive as they are exciting: we urge ecologists to learn from the past and seek opportunities to extend, improve, and strengthen their work using palaeoecological data.
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10
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11
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Kocsis ÁT, Reddin CJ, Scotese CR, Valdes PJ, Kiessling W. Increase in marine provinciality over the last 250 million years governed more by climate change than plate tectonics. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211342. [PMID: 34403638 PMCID: PMC8370804 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Amidst long-term fluctuations of the abiotic environment, the degree to which life organizes into distinct biogeographic provinces (provinciality) can reveal the fundamental drivers of global biodiversity. Our understanding of present-day biogeography implies that changes in the distribution of continents across climatic zones have predictable effects on habitat distribution, dispersal barriers and the evolution of provinciality. To assess marine provinciality through the Phanerozoic, here we (a) simulate provinces based on palaeogeographic reconstructions and global climate models and (b) contrast them with empirically derived provinces that we define using network analysis of fossil occurrences. Simulated and empirical patterns match reasonably well and consistently suggest a greater than 15% increase in provinciality since the Mesozoic era. Although both factors played a role, the simulations imply that the effect of the latitudinal temperature gradient has been twice as important in determining marine provinciality as continental configuration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ádám T Kocsis
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
- MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Paleontology, PO box 137, 1431 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Carl J Reddin
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
- Museum für Naturkunde, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christopher R Scotese
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3130, USA
| | - Paul J Valdes
- School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol BS8 1SS, UK
| | - Wolfgang Kiessling
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
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12
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Boag TH, Gearty W, Stockey RG. Metabolic tradeoffs control biodiversity gradients through geological time. Curr Biol 2021; 31:2906-2913.e3. [PMID: 33961786 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.04.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The latitudinal gradient of increasing marine biodiversity from the poles to the tropics is one of the most conspicuous biological patterns in modern oceans.1-3 Low-latitude regions of the global ocean are often hotspots of animal biodiversity, yet they are set to be most critically affected by anthropogenic climate change.4 As ocean temperatures rise and deoxygenation proceeds in the coming centuries, the volume of aerobically viable habitat is predicted to decrease in these zones.5,6 In contrast to the slightly asymmetrical modern latitudinal biodiversity gradient,7 compilations of fossil occurrences indicate peaks in biodiversity may have existed much further away from the equator in the past, with transitions between climate states hypothesized to explain this trend.8-13 We combine a new compilation of fossil mollusc occurrences, paleotemperature proxies, and biogeographic data to reveal a non-monotonic relationship between temperature and diversity in the paleontological record over the last 145 million years. We derive a metabolic model that integrates the kinetic effects of temperature on biodiversity14 with the recently described Metabolic Index that calculates aerobic habitat availability based on the effect of temperature on hypoxia sensitivity.5,15,16 Although factors such as coastal habitat area and homeothermy are important,17,18 we find strong congruence between our metabolic model and our fossil and paleotemperature meta-analysis. We therefore suggest that the effects of ocean temperature on the aerobic scope of marine ectotherms is a primary driver of migrating biodiversity peaks through geologic time and will likely play a role in the restructuring of biodiversity under projected future climate scenarios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas H Boag
- Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
| | - William Gearty
- Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
| | - Richard G Stockey
- Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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13
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Global warming is causing a more pronounced dip in marine species richness around the equator. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2015094118. [PMID: 33876750 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2015094118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The latitudinal gradient in species richness, with more species in the tropics and richness declining with latitude, is widely known and has been assumed to be stable over recent centuries. We analyzed data on 48,661 marine animal species since 1955, accounting for sampling variation, to assess whether the global latitudinal gradient in species richness is being impacted by climate change. We confirm recent studies that show a slight dip in species richness at the equator. Moreover, richness across latitudinal bands was sensitive to temperature, reaching a plateau or declining above a mean annual sea surface temperature of 20 °C for most taxa. In response, since the 1970s, species richness has declined at the equator relative to an increase at midlatitudes and has shifted north in the northern hemisphere, particularly among pelagic species. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that climate change is impacting the latitudinal gradient in marine biodiversity at a global scale. The intensification of the dip in species richness at the equator, especially for pelagic species, suggests that it is already too warm there for some species to survive.
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14
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Zacaï A, Monnet C, Pohl A, Beaugrand G, Mullins G, Kroeck DM, Servais T. Truncated bimodal latitudinal diversity gradient in early Paleozoic phytoplankton. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabd6709. [PMID: 33827811 PMCID: PMC8026127 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd6709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG)-the decline in species richness from the equator to the poles-is classically considered as the most pervasive macroecological pattern on Earth, but the timing of its establishment, its ubiquity in the geological past, and explanatory mechanisms remain uncertain. By combining empirical and modeling approaches, we show that the first representatives of marine phytoplankton exhibited an LDG from the beginning of the Cambrian, when most major phyla appeared. However, this LDG showed a single peak of diversity centered on the Southern Hemisphere, in contrast to the equatorial peak classically observed for most modern taxa. We find that this LDG most likely corresponds to a truncated bimodal gradient, which probably results from an uneven sediment preservation, smaller sampling effort, and/or lower initial diversity in the Northern Hemisphere. Variation of the documented LDG through time resulted primarily from fluctuations in annual sea-surface temperature and long-term climate changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axelle Zacaï
- Evo-Eco-Paleo, UMR 8198, CNRS, Univ. Lille, F-59000 Lille, France.
- PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262, CNRS, Université de Poitiers, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France
| | - Claude Monnet
- Evo-Eco-Paleo, UMR 8198, CNRS, Univ. Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Alexandre Pohl
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282, CNRS, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, 6 boulevard Gabriel, F-21000 Dijon, France
| | - Grégory Beaugrand
- Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences, UMR 8187, CNRS, Univ. Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | | | - David M Kroeck
- Evo-Eco-Paleo, UMR 8198, CNRS, Univ. Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Thomas Servais
- Evo-Eco-Paleo, UMR 8198, CNRS, Univ. Lille, F-59000 Lille, France
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15
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Jones LA, Dean CD, Mannion PD, Farnsworth A, Allison PA. Spatial sampling heterogeneity limits the detectability of deep time latitudinal biodiversity gradients. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202762. [PMID: 33622126 PMCID: PMC7934898 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The latitudinal biodiversity gradient (LBG), in which species richness decreases from tropical to polar regions, is a pervasive pattern of the modern biosphere. Although the distribution of fossil occurrences suggests this pattern has varied through deep time, the recognition of palaeobiogeographic patterns is hampered by geological and anthropogenic biases. In particular, spatial sampling heterogeneity has the capacity to impact upon the reconstruction of deep time LBGs. Here we use a simulation framework to test the detectability of three different types of LBG (flat, unimodal and bimodal) over the last 300 Myr. We show that heterogeneity in spatial sampling significantly impacts upon the detectability of genuine LBGs, with known biodiversity patterns regularly obscured after applying the spatial sampling window of fossil collections. Sampling-standardization aids the reconstruction of relative biodiversity gradients, but cannot account for artefactual absences introduced by geological and anthropogenic biases. Therefore, we argue that some previous studies might have failed to recover the ‘true’ LBG type owing to incomplete and heterogeneous sampling, particularly between 200 and 20 Ma. Furthermore, these issues also have the potential to bias global estimates of past biodiversity, as well as inhibit the recognition of extinction and radiation events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis A Jones
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Christopher D Dean
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Philip D Mannion
- Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | | | - Peter A Allison
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK
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16
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Song H, Huang S, Jia E, Dai X, Wignall PB, Dunhill AM. Flat latitudinal diversity gradient caused by the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:17578-17583. [PMID: 32631978 PMCID: PMC7395496 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918953117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is recognized as one of the most pervasive, global patterns of present-day biodiversity. However, the controlling mechanisms have proved difficult to identify because many potential drivers covary in space. The geological record presents a unique opportunity for understanding the mechanisms which drive the LDG by providing a direct window to deep-time biogeographic dynamics. Here we used a comprehensive database containing 52,318 occurrences of marine fossils to show that the shape of the LDG changed greatly during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction from showing a significant tropical peak to a flattened LDG. The flat LDG lasted for the entire Early Triassic (∼5 My) before reverting to a modern-like shape in the Middle Triassic. The environmental extremes that prevailed globally, especially the dramatic warming, likely induced selective extinction in low latitudes and accumulation of diversity in high latitudes through origination and poleward migration, which combined together account for the flat LDG of the Early Triassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haijun Song
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 430074 Wuhan, China;
| | - Shan Huang
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Enhao Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 430074 Wuhan, China
| | - Xu Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 430074 Wuhan, China
| | - Paul B Wignall
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander M Dunhill
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, United Kingdom
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A deep-time perspective on the latitudinal diversity gradient. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:17479-17481. [PMID: 32669439 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2011997117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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