滑らかなボタンサイズからトゲトゲした巨大サイズまで-なぜサボテンは多様なのか?(From smooth and button-size to spiky and giant-size – why are cacti so diverse?)

2024-08-28 バース大学

<関連情報>

• https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/from-smooth-and-button-size-to-spiky-and-giant-size-why-are-cacti-so-diverse/
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51666-2

サボテン多様化の複数の要因を特定 Identifying the multiple drivers of cactus diversification

Jamie B. Thompson,Tania Hernández-Hernández,Georgia Keeling,Marilyn Vásquez-Cruz & Nicholas K. Priest
Nature Communications  Published:23 August 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51666-2

Abstract

Our understanding of the complexity of forces at play in the rise of major angiosperm lineages remains incomplete. The diversity and heterogeneous distribution of most angiosperm lineages is so extraordinary that it confounds our ability to identify simple drivers of diversification. Using machine learning in combination with phylogenetic modelling, we show that five separate abiotic and biotic variables significantly contribute to the diversification of Cactaceae. We reconstruct a comprehensive phylogeny, build a dataset of 39 abiotic and biotic variables, and predict the variables of central importance, while accounting for potential interactions between those variables. We use state-dependent diversification models to confirm that five abiotic and biotic variables shape diversification in the cactus family. Of highest importance are diurnal air temperature range, soil sand content and plant size, with lesser importance identified in isothermality and geographic range size. Interestingly, each of the estimated optimal conditions for abiotic variables were intermediate, indicating that cactus diversification is promoted by moderate, not extreme, climates. Our results reveal the potential primary drivers of cactus diversification, and the need to account for the complexity underlying the evolution of angiosperm lineages.