Conceptual and empirical advances in Neotropical biodiversity research
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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
Författare
Alexandre Antonelli
Göteborgs universitet
Maria Ariza
Göteborgs universitet
James Albert
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Tobias Andermann
Göteborgs universitet
Josue Azevedo
Göteborgs universitet
Christine Bacon
Göteborgs universitet
Soren Faurby
Göteborgs universitet
Thais Guedes
Göteborgs universitet
Carina Hoorn
Universiteit Van Amsterdam
Universidad Regional Amazónica
Lucia G. Lohmann
Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP)
University of California
Pavel Matos-Maravi
Göteborgs universitet
Camila D. Ritter
Göteborgs universitet
Isabel Sanmartin
Real Jardín Botanico
Daniele Silvestro
Göteborgs universitet
Marcelo Tejedor
Göteborgs universitet
Hans ter Steege
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Hanna Tuomisto
Turun Yliopisto
Fernanda P. Werneck
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia
Alexander Zizka
Göteborgs universitet
Scott Edwards
Harvard University
Göteborgs universitet
Chalmers, Matematiska vetenskaper
PeerJ
21678359 (eISSN)
Vol. 2018 10 e5644Ämneskategorier
Didaktik
Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap
Geofysik
DOI
10.7717/peerj.5644
PubMed
30310740