10.5061/DRYAD.K98SF7M7F
Gorel, Anaïs-Pasiphaé
0000-0003-0768-5615
Ghent University
Hardy, Olivier J.
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Dauby, Gilles
University of Montpellier
Dexter, Kyle G.
University of Edinburgh
Segovia, Ricardo A.
Austral University
Steppe, Kathy
Ghent University
Fayolle, Adeline
University of Liège
Data from: Climatic niche lability but growth form conservatism in the
African woody flora
Dryad
dataset
2022
FOS: Natural sciences
EOS-CANOPI*
O.0026.22
Ghent University
https://ror.org/00cv9y106
BOF20/PDO/003
2022-07-25T00:00:00Z
2022-07-25T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13985
1449752574 bytes
4
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Climatic niche evolution during the diversification of tropical plants has
received little attention in Africa. To address this, we characterized the
climatic niche of >4000 tropical African woody species,
distinguishing two broad bioclimatic groups (forest vs. savanna) and six
subgroups. We quantified niche conservatism versus lability at the genus
level and for higher clades, using a molecular phylogeny of >800
genera. Although niche stasis at speciation is prevalent, numerous clades
individually cover vast climatic spaces suggesting a general ease in
transcending ecological limits, especially across bioclimatic subgroups.
The forest biome was the main source of diversity, providing many lineages
to savanna, but reverse shifts also occurred. We identified clades that
diversified in savanna after shifts from forest. The forest-savanna
transition was not consistently associated with a growth form change,
though we found evolutionarily labile clades whose presence in forest or
savanna is associated respectively with climbing or shrubby species
diversification.
Two sets of data are provided: 1) The climatic niches of 4154 woody
species occuring in tropical Africa. 2) The bioclimatic affiliations of
these species. All information on the methods used to create these data is
provided in the attached manuscript.Please read the READ_ME.txt file
provided with the datasets.