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Niche lability in the evolution of a Caribbean lizard community

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan B. Losos

    (Washington University)

  • Manuel Leal

    (Union College
    Vanderbilt University)

  • Richard E. Glor

    (Washington University)

  • Kevin de Queiroz

    (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution)

  • Paul E. Hertz

    (Barnard College)

  • Lourdes Rodríguez Schettino

    (Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, CITGMA)

  • Ada Chamizo Lara

    (Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, CITGMA)

  • Todd R. Jackman

    (Villanova University)

  • Allan Larson

    (Washington University)

Abstract

Niche conservatism—the tendency for closely related species to be ecologically similar—is widespread1,2,3. However, most studies compare closely related taxa that occur in allopatry3; in sympatry, the stabilizing forces that promote niche conservatism4,5, and thus inhibit niche shifts, may be countered by natural selection favouring ecological divergence to minimize the intensity of interspecific interactions6,7. Consequently, the relative importance of niche conservatism versus niche divergence in determining community structure has received little attention7. Here, we examine a tropical lizard community in which species have a long evolutionary history of ecological interaction. We find that evolutionary divergence overcomes niche conservatism: closely related species are no more ecologically similar than expected by random divergence and some distantly related species are ecologically similar, leading to a community in which the relationship between ecological similarity and phylogenetic relatedness is very weak. Despite this lack of niche conservatism, the ecological structuring of the community has a phylogenetic component: niche complementarity only occurs among distantly related species, which suggests that the strength of ecological interactions among species may be related to phylogeny, but it is not necessarily the most closely related species that interact most strongly.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan B. Losos & Manuel Leal & Richard E. Glor & Kevin de Queiroz & Paul E. Hertz & Lourdes Rodríguez Schettino & Ada Chamizo Lara & Todd R. Jackman & Allan Larson, 2003. "Niche lability in the evolution of a Caribbean lizard community," Nature, Nature, vol. 424(6948), pages 542-545, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:424:y:2003:i:6948:d:10.1038_nature01814
    DOI: 10.1038/nature01814
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    Cited by:

    1. Jason M Kamilar & Kathleen M Muldoon, 2010. "The Climatic Niche Diversity of Malagasy Primates: A Phylogenetic Perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(6), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Suzana Alcantara & Richard H Ree & Fernando R Martins & Lúcia G Lohmann, 2014. "The Effect of Phylogeny, Environment and Morphology on Communities of a Lianescent Clade (Bignonieae-Bignoniaceae) in Neotropical Biomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-10, March.

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