Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches
(2020) In Ecology and Evolution 10(14). p.6967-6977- Abstract
Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characterized; and (b) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species' environmental tolerances. Here, we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental... (More)
Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characterized; and (b) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species' environmental tolerances. Here, we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental tolerances. We provide a worked empirical example of our method, investigating ecological niche evolution in the New World orioles (Aves: Passeriformes: Icterus spp.). Temperature and precipitation tolerances were generally broad and conserved among orioles, with niche reduction and specialization limited to a few terminal branches. Tools for performing these reconstructions are available in a new R package called nichevol.
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- author
- publishing date
- 2020-07-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- comparative phylogenetics, fundamental ecological niche, Icterus, phylogenetic niche conservatism
- in
- Ecology and Evolution
- volume
- 10
- issue
- 14
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85087219440
- ISSN
- 2045-7758
- DOI
- 10.1002/ece3.6359
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
- id
- 20fd27c1-0a20-4784-907f-b79eef06a450
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-14 16:56:43
- date last changed
- 2026-01-16 12:25:34
@article{20fd27c1-0a20-4784-907f-b79eef06a450,
abstract = {{<p>Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods may infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (a) species' niches are often poorly characterized; and (b) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species' environmental tolerances. Here, we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental tolerances. We provide a worked empirical example of our method, investigating ecological niche evolution in the New World orioles (Aves: Passeriformes: <i>Icterus</i> spp.). Temperature and precipitation tolerances were generally broad and conserved among orioles, with niche reduction and specialization limited to a few terminal branches. Tools for performing these reconstructions are available in a new R package called <i>nichevol</i>.</p>}},
author = {{Owens, Hannah L. and Ribeiro, Vivian and Saupe, Erin E. and Cobos, Marlon E. and Hosner, Peter A. and Cooper, Jacob C. and Samy, Abdallah M. and Barve, Vijay and Barve, Narayani and Muñoz-R., Carlos J. and Peterson, A. Townsend}},
issn = {{2045-7758}},
keywords = {{comparative phylogenetics; fundamental ecological niche; Icterus; phylogenetic niche conservatism}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
number = {{14}},
pages = {{6967--6977}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Ecology and Evolution}},
title = {{Acknowledging uncertainty in evolutionary reconstructions of ecological niches}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6359}},
doi = {{10.1002/ece3.6359}},
volume = {{10}},
year = {{2020}},
}