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 e5644

Ämneskategorier

Didaktik

Annan geovetenskap och miljövetenskap

Geofysik

DOI

10.7717/peerj.5644

PubMed

30310740

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2019-03-22