Conceptual and empirical advances in Neotropical biodiversity research
Journal article, 2018

The unparalleled biodiversity found in the American tropics (the Neotropics) has attracted the attention of naturalists for centuries. Despite major advances in recent years in our understanding of the origin and diversification of many Neotropical taxa and biotic regions, many questions remain to be answered. Additional biological and geological data are still needed, as well as methodological advances that are capable of bridging these research fields. In this review, aimed primarily at advanced students and early-career scientists, we introduce the concept of "trans-disciplinary biogeography," which refers to the integration of data from multiple areas of research in biology (e.g., community ecology, phylogeography, systematics, historical biogeography) and Earth and the physical sciences (e.g., geology, climatology, palaeontology), as a means to reconstruct the giant puzzle of Neotropical biodiversity and evolution in space and time. We caution against extrapolating results derived from the study of one or a few taxa to convey general scenarios of Neotropical evolution and landscape formation. We urge more coordination and integration of data and ideas among disciplines, transcending their traditional boundaries, as a basis for advancing tomorrow's ground-breaking research. Our review highlights the great opportunities for studying the Neotropical biota to understand the evolution of life.

Biotic diversification

Landscape evolution

Community ecology

Scale

Phylogenetics

Biodiversity

Phylogeny

Phylogeography

Tropics

Biogeography

Author

Alexandre Antonelli

University of Gothenburg

Maria Ariza

University of Gothenburg

James Albert

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Tobias Andermann

University of Gothenburg

Josue Azevedo

University of Gothenburg

Christine Bacon

University of Gothenburg

Soren Faurby

University of Gothenburg

Thais Guedes

University of Gothenburg

Carina Hoorn

University of Amsterdam

Universidad Regional Amazónica

Lucia G. Lohmann

University of Sao Paulo (USP)

University of California

Pavel Matos-Maravi

University of Gothenburg

Camila D. Ritter

University of Gothenburg

Isabel Sanmartin

Real Jardín Botanico

Daniele Silvestro

University of Gothenburg

Marcelo Tejedor

University of Gothenburg

Hans ter Steege

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Hanna Tuomisto

University of Turku

Fernanda P. Werneck

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia

Alexander Zizka

University of Gothenburg

Scott Edwards

Harvard University

University of Gothenburg

Chalmers, Mathematical Sciences

PeerJ

21678359 (eISSN)

Vol. 2018 10 e5644

Subject Categories

Didactics

Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Geophysics

DOI

10.7717/peerj.5644

PubMed

30310740

More information

Latest update

3/22/2019