Precipitation is the main axis of tropical plant phylogenetic turnover across space and time

• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade4954
• Publication Date: 2023-02-17T18:58:22Z
• Authors: Jens J. Ringelberg; Erik J. M. Koenen; Benjamin Sauter; Anahita Aebli; Juliana G. Rando; João R. Iganci; Luciano P. de Que...; Daniel J. Murphy; Myriam Gaudeul; Anne Bruneau; Melissa Luckow; Gwilym P. Lewis; Joseph T. Miller; Marcelo F. Simon; Lucas S. B. Jordão; Matías Morales; C. Donovan Bailey; Madhugiri Nageswa...; James A. Nicholls; Oriane Loiseau; R. Toby Pennington; Kyle G. Dexter; Niklaus E. Zimmer...; Colin E. Hughes
• Keywords: Pantropical; Lineage (genetic)

Early natural historians—Comte de Buffon, von Humboldt, and De Candolle—established environment geography as two principal axes determining the distribution of groups organisms, laying foundations for biogeography over subsequent 200 years, yet relative importance these remains unresolved. Leveraging phylogenomic global species data Mimosoid legumes, a pantropical plant clade c. 3500 species, we show that water availability gradient from deserts to rain forests dictates turnover lineages within continents across tropics. We demonstrate 95% speciation occurs precipitation niche, showing profound phylogenetic niche conservatism, lineage boundaries coincide with isohyets precipitation. reveal similar patterns on different continents, implying evolution dispersal follow universal processes.