Aquatic Plant Research Center, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2024 May 30;24(1):476. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05141-1.
Interest in the evolution of climatic niches, particularly in understanding the potential adaptive responses of species under climate change, has increased both theoretically and within macroecological studies. These studies have provided valuable insights into how climatic traits of species influence their niche evolution. In this study, we aim to investigate whether niche conservatism plays a role in the species diversification of Nymphaea, a group of aquatic plants with a cosmopolitan distribution that is facing severe habitat loss. We will use climatic models and phylogenetic data for 23 species to reconstruct Nymphaea's niche evolution, measure niche overlap, and assess disparity through time while testing for evolutionary models.
There was a lot of overlap in niches both within and between groups, especially for species that can be found in many places. The breadth and peaks of the niche profile varied depending on the bioclimatic variables, which suggested that the species evolved differently to cope with changes in climate. The analysis also showed that evolutionary changes happened across the phylogeny, with weak to moderate signals. The morphological disparity index (MDI) values indicated that there were disparities within subclades over time but not between or among them. Niche reconstruction and evolution analysis revealed both convergent and divergent evolution among various variables. For example, N. immutabilis, N. atrans, N. violancea, and N. nouchali evolved towards intermediate temperatures for bio2 and bio3 (isothermity) while moving towards extreme temperatures for bio8 and bio9 (wettest and driest average quarterly temperatures).
Our study will improve our understanding of how changes in climatic niches are potentially driving the evolution of Nymphaea. It has significant scientific implications for the limits, assemblages, evolution, and diversification of species. This information is crucial for the ongoing efforts of conservation and management, particularly considering the inevitable effects of climate change.
人们对气候生态位的演化，特别是对物种在气候变化下潜在适应反应的理解，无论是在理论上还是在宏观生态学研究中，都越来越感兴趣。这些研究为我们提供了宝贵的见解，了解物种的气候特征如何影响它们的生态位演化。在这项研究中，我们旨在探讨生态位保守性是否在睡莲属（Nymphaea）物种多样化中发挥作用，睡莲属是一个具有全球分布的水生植物群，正面临着严重的生境丧失。我们将使用 23 个物种的气候模型和系统发育数据来重建睡莲属的生态位演化，测量生态位重叠，并在测试进化模型的同时评估时间上的差异。
无论是在组内还是组间，生态位都有很大的重叠，尤其是对于那些可以在很多地方找到的物种。生态位轮廓的广度和峰值因生物气候变量而异，这表明物种为适应气候变化而进化方式不同。分析还表明，进化变化发生在整个系统发育中，信号较弱但适中。形态差异指数（MDI）值表明，随着时间的推移，亚分支内存在差异，但在分支之间或分支内没有差异。生态位重建和进化分析揭示了各种变量之间的趋同和分歧进化。例如，N. immutabilis、N. atrans、N. violancea 和 N. nouchali 朝着生物 2 和生物 3（等温性）的中等温度进化，而朝着生物 8 和生物 9（最湿润和最干燥的季度平均温度）的极端温度进化。
我们的研究将提高我们对气候生态位变化如何潜在驱动睡莲属进化的理解。它对物种的极限、组合、进化和多样化具有重要的科学意义。这些信息对于保护和管理的持续努力至关重要，特别是考虑到气候变化的不可避免影响。
