Search

Identifying the main predictors of species' extinction risk while accounting for the effects of spatial and phylogenetic structures in the data is key to preventing species loss in tropical forests through adequate conservation practices. We recorded 22 705 precise geographical locations of primate occurrence across four major geographic realms (Neotropics, mainland Africa, Madagascar and Asia) to assess predictors of threat status using a novel Bayesian spatio-phylogenetic approach. We estimated the relative contributions of fixed factors (forest amount, body mass, home range, diel activity, locomotion, evolutionary distinctiveness and climatic instability) and random factors (space and phylogeny) to primate extinction risk. Precipitation instability increased the extinction risk in the Neotropics but decreased it in mainland Africa and Madagascar. Forest amount was negatively associated with extinction risk in all realms except Madagascar. Body mass increased the extinction risk in the Neotropics and Madagascar, whereas home range increased the extinction risk in mainland Africa and decreased it in Asia. Evolutionary distinctiveness negatively influenced extinction risk only in mainland Africa. Our findings highlight the importance of climate change mitigation and forest protection strategies. Increasing the protection of large primates and reducing hunting are also essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroecology focuses on ecological questions at broad spatial and temporal scales, providing a statistical description of patterns in species abundance, distribution and diversity. More recently, historical components of these patterns have begun to be investigated more deeply. We tentatively refer to the practice of explicitly taking species history into account, both analytically and conceptually, as ‘evolutionary macroecology’. We discuss how the evolutionary dimension can be incorporated into macroecology through two orthogonal and complementary data types: fossils and phylogenies. Research traditions dealing with these data have developed more‐or‐less independently over the last 20–30 years, but merging them will help elucidate the historical components of diversity gradients and the evolutionary dynamics of species’ traits. Here we highlight conceptual and methodological advances in merging these two research traditions and review the viewpoints and toolboxes that can, in combination, help address patterns and unveil processes at temporal and spatial macro‐scales.

The role of physiological parameters as determinants of macroscale patterns is still widely disputed. Using amphibians as a model, I revisited three fundamental themes in macroecology from a physiological perspective: the global diversity gradient, ecogeographical rules and the evolution of the climatic niche at physiological and macroecological scales. To do this, I used a variety of data types, performed a number of spatial and phylogenetic analyses and proposed novel applications for some methods. I also provided support for some well-established hypotheses regarding the physiological determinants of species diversity and trait variation across space, while revealing other lesser known patterns and the possible processes underlying species’ distributions and niche evolution. I emphasize the need for a novel integration of theoretical and methodological approaches to improve the analysis of broad-scale ecological processes, in particular those related to the fundamental features (e.g. physiology) of species. I also highlight the strategic role of macroecology in this quest, especially in the face of ongoing environmental changes.

Given the position of humans in the tree of life, comparative research on non‐human primates has attracted the interest of researchers in biology, medical sciences, anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Covariation of species' phenotypes has been of particular interest.Learning from the historical development of comparative research with primates should thus be particularly valuable for evolutionary ecology and to improve understanding of phenotypic integration and diversity. Such learning would also help identify knowledge gaps, disputed questions, and new avenues of both basic and applied research in relation to the evolution of primate features and the conservation of our close relatives.We conducted a historical assessment through a non‐systematic review and a systematic review, focusing on how the integration of different research lines in evolutionary ecology focused on primate phenotypic covariation unfolded throughout the 20th Century. The non‐systematic review allowed us to reconstruct the history of the discipline from its earliest origins, when bibliometric assessments were more limited in scope, and to identify the most appropriate keywords for the systematic review. We employed a standard protocol for the systematic review, applying two complementary analyses: co‐occurrence of keywords and bibliographic coupling of references. These analyses described the development of the conceptual and intellectual structures of comparative primatology from 1966 to 2020.By identifying the most influential researchers and concept interrelations, we highlight primate phenotypes critical for the development of the discipline (in particular, brain and body sizes and behavioural patterns), showcasing the reach of these investigations for evolutionary ecology. Overall, our findings emphasise the crucial role that comparative primatology has played in developing the study of phenotypic integration and the very onset of phylogenetic comparative methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary rate explanations for latitudinal diversity gradients predict faster speciation and diversification rates in richer, older and more stable tropical regions (climatic stability hypothesis). Numerous modern lineages have emerged in high latitudes, however, suggesting that climatic oscillations can drive population divergence, at least among extratropical species (glacial refugia hypothesis). This conflicting evidence suggests that geographical patterns of evolutionary rates are more complicated than previously thought. Here, we reconstructed the complex evolutionary dynamics of a comprehensive data set of modern mammals, both terrestrial and marine. We performed global and regional regression analyses to investigate how climatic instability could have indirectly influenced contemporary diversity gradients through its effects on evolutionary rates. In particular, we explored global and regional patterns of the relationships between species richness and assemblage‐level evolutionary rates and between evolutionary rates and climatic instability. We found an inverse relationship between evolutionary rates and species richness, especially in the terrestrial domain. Additionally, climatic instability was strongly associated with the highest evolutionary rates at high terrestrial latitudes, supporting the glacial refugia hypothesis there. At low latitudes, evolutionary rates were unrelated to climatic stability. The inverse relationship between evolutionary rates and the modern latitudinal diversity gradient casts doubt on the idea that higher evolutionary rates in the tropics underlie the current diversity patterns of modern mammals. Alternatively, the longer time spans for diversity to accumulate in the older and more stable tropics (and not high diversification rates) may explain the latitudinal diversity gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several amphibian lineages epitomize the faunal biodiversity crises, with numerous reports of population declines and extinctions worldwide. Predicting how such lineages will cope with environmental changes is an urgent challenge for biologists. A promising framework for this involves mechanistic modeling, which integrates organismal ecophysiological features and ecological models as a means to establish causal and consequential relationships of species with their physical environment. Solid frameworks built for other tetrapods (e.g., lizards) have proved successful in this context, but its extension to amphibians requires care. First, the natural history of amphibians is distinct within tetrapods, for it includes a biphasic life cycle that undergoes major habitat transitions and changes in sensitivity to environmental factors. Second, the accumulated data on amphibian ecophysiology is not nearly as expressive, is heavily biased towards adult lifeforms of few non-tropical lineages, and overlook the importance of hydrothermal relationships. Thus, we argue that critical usage and improvement in the available data is essential for enhancing the power of mechanistic modeling from the physiological ecology of amphibians. We highlight the complexity of ecophysiological variables and the need for understanding the natural history of the group under study and indicate directions deemed crucial to attaining steady progress in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]