TY - JOUR

T1 - Faunal breaks and species composition of Indo-Pacific corals

T2 - potential influence of plate tectonics, environment, and habitat distribution

AU - Keith, Sal

AU - Hughes, T. P.

AU - Baird, Andrew

AU - Madin, Josh

AU - Connolly, Sean R.

PY - 2013/7/22

Y1 - 2013/7/22

N2 - Species richness gradients are ubiquitous in nature, but the mechanisms that generate and maintain these patterns at macroecological scales remain unresolved. We use a new approach that focuses on overlapping geographical ranges of species to reveal that Indo-Pacific corals are assembled within 11 distinct faunal provinces. Province limits are characterized by co-occurrence of multiple species range boundaries. Unexpectedly, these faunal breaks are poorly predicted by contemporary environmental conditions and the present-day distribution of habitat. Instead, faunal breaks show striking concordance with geological features (tectonic plates and mantle plume tracks). The depth range over which a species occurs, its larval development rate and genus age are important determinants of the likelihood that species will straddle faunal breaks. Our findings indicate that historical processes, habitat heterogeneity and species colonization ability account for more of the present-day biogeographical patterns of corals than explanations based on the contemporary distribution of reefs or environmental conditions.

AB - Species richness gradients are ubiquitous in nature, but the mechanisms that generate and maintain these patterns at macroecological scales remain unresolved. We use a new approach that focuses on overlapping geographical ranges of species to reveal that Indo-Pacific corals are assembled within 11 distinct faunal provinces. Province limits are characterized by co-occurrence of multiple species range boundaries. Unexpectedly, these faunal breaks are poorly predicted by contemporary environmental conditions and the present-day distribution of habitat. Instead, faunal breaks show striking concordance with geological features (tectonic plates and mantle plume tracks). The depth range over which a species occurs, its larval development rate and genus age are important determinants of the likelihood that species will straddle faunal breaks. Our findings indicate that historical processes, habitat heterogeneity and species colonization ability account for more of the present-day biogeographical patterns of corals than explanations based on the contemporary distribution of reefs or environmental conditions.

KW - biogeography

KW - colonization

KW - macroecology

KW - metacommunity

KW - nestedness

KW - coral

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2013.0818

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2013.0818

M3 - Journal article

VL - 280

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B

SN - 0080-4649

IS - 1763

M1 - 20130818

ER -