TY - JOUR
T1 - The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology
AU - Cavender-Bares, Jeannine
AU - Kozak, Kenneth H.
AU - Fine, Paul V.A.
AU - Kembel, Steven W.
PY - 2009/7
Y1 - 2009/7
N2 - The increasing availability of phylogenetic data, computing power and informatics tools has facilitated a rapid expansion of studies that apply phylogenetic data and methods to community ecology. Several key areas are reviewed in which phylogenetic information helps to resolve long-standing controversies in community ecology, challenges previous assumptions, and opens new areas of investigation. In particular, studies in phylogenetic community ecology have helped to reveal the multitude of processes driving community assembly and have demonstrated the importance of evolution in the assembly process. Phylogenetic approaches have also increased understanding of the consequences of community interactions for speciation, adaptation and extinction. Finally, phylogenetic community structure and composition holds promise for predicting ecosystem processes and impacts of global change. Major challenges to advancing these areas remain. In particular, determining the extent to which ecologically relevant traits are phylogenetically conserved or convergent, and over what temporal scale, is critical to understanding the causes of community phylogenetic structure and its evolutionary and ecosystem consequences. Harnessing phylogenetic information to understand and forecast changes in diversity and dynamics of communities is a critical step in managing and restoring the Earth's biota in a time of rapid global change.
AB - The increasing availability of phylogenetic data, computing power and informatics tools has facilitated a rapid expansion of studies that apply phylogenetic data and methods to community ecology. Several key areas are reviewed in which phylogenetic information helps to resolve long-standing controversies in community ecology, challenges previous assumptions, and opens new areas of investigation. In particular, studies in phylogenetic community ecology have helped to reveal the multitude of processes driving community assembly and have demonstrated the importance of evolution in the assembly process. Phylogenetic approaches have also increased understanding of the consequences of community interactions for speciation, adaptation and extinction. Finally, phylogenetic community structure and composition holds promise for predicting ecosystem processes and impacts of global change. Major challenges to advancing these areas remain. In particular, determining the extent to which ecologically relevant traits are phylogenetically conserved or convergent, and over what temporal scale, is critical to understanding the causes of community phylogenetic structure and its evolutionary and ecosystem consequences. Harnessing phylogenetic information to understand and forecast changes in diversity and dynamics of communities is a critical step in managing and restoring the Earth's biota in a time of rapid global change.
KW - Community assembly
KW - Deterministic vs. neutral processes
KW - Ecosystem processes
KW - Experimental approaches
KW - Functional traits
KW - Phylogenetic community ecology
KW - Phylogenetic diversity
KW - Spatial and phylogenetic scale
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01314.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01314.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 19473217
AN - SCOPUS:66349134056
SN - 1461-023X
VL - 12
SP - 693
EP - 715
JO - Ecology letters
JF - Ecology letters
IS - 7
ER -