Abstract
On any spatial scale, the species composition of a taxonomic group often departs from a phylogenetically random subset drawn from the pool of species available on a higher scale. Analysis of the uneven representation of related lineages in different assemblages can reveal the action of various forces shaping their diversification. For any assemblage, unequal diversification among lineages can be estimated using diversity skewness, an index of the balance of a phylogenetic tree whose values increase with increasing differences in diversification rates among tree branches. We tested for geographical patterns in the diversity skewness of flea assemblages parasitic on small mammals in 26 distinct geographic localities from the Palaearctic and 15 from the Nearctic. Overall, diversity skewness of the Nearctic flea assemblage was unexpectedly high compared to that of the global flea fauna, whereas that of the Palaearctic did not depart from the expectations of a null model. On a smaller scale, the diversity skewness of local flea assemblages was sometimes lower, sometimes higher, but, in most of the 41 localities, it did not differ significantly from that of random subsets taken from the species pool available on the larger spatial scale (either the world fauna or that of the biogeographical realm, i.e. Palaearctic or Nearctic). More importantly, among Palaearctic assemblages, diversity skewness increased with increasing latitude and/or decreasing mean air temperatures. The different patterns observed in the Palaearctic and Nearctic may be in part due the fact that flea diversification appears to have been more intense in the former than the latter, and to differences between them in relief and glacial history. Temperature-driven speciation rates may well explain the latitudinal gradient in diversity skewness in the Palaearctic. The results illustrate the action of various biogeographical processes in shaping the uneven differentiation of flea lineages on different spatial scales.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 807-814 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2008 |
Keywords
- Diversity skewness
- Latitudinal gradient
- Mammals
- Null models
- Phylogeny
- Siphonaptera
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics