1!The Biogeography of Life!. . . Earth and Life Evolve Together . . .!“Nothing in evolution makes sense except in the light of molecular systematics ?”!Phylogeny!Development!Genetics!Taxonomy!Cytology!Ecology!Biogeography!Morphology!Yes, in part!Morphology!Development!Genetics!Taxonomy!Cytology!Ecology!Biogeography!Phylogeny!But, it is a two-way interaction!Future of Molecular Systematics!1. Biogeography!2. Ecology!3. Genomics!Phylogeny!Development!Genomics!Taxonomy!Cytology!Ecology!Biogeography!Morphology!1. Biogeography!2. Ecology!3. Genomics!Science Magazine 13 Oct. 2006!Future of Molecular Systematics!2!Draft Neandertal Genome Science Magazine !7 May 2010!Svante Paabo – Max-Planck Institute!1. Biogeography!2. Ecology!3. Genomics!Future of Molecular Systematics!Future of Molecular Systematics!1. Biogeography!2. Ecology!3. Genomics!Phylogeny!Development!Genomics!Taxonomy!Cytology!Ecology!Biogeography!Morphology!" . . . that grand subject, that almost keystone of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution" ! [Charles Darwin, 1845, in a letter to Joseph Dalton Hooker, !later Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew]!The Biogeography of Life!" . . . that grand subject, that almost keystone of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution" !Darwin needed two chapters in the Origin of Species to cover his ideas on geographical distributions of organisms!“I am prepared to go to the stake, if requisite, in support of the chapters on the geological and geographical distribution of life.” !Thomas Huxley after reading the Origin of Species!The Biogeography of Life!3!Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)!• First naturalist to make explicit distinction of vegetation and flora and connection between climate and plant distributions!The Biogeography of Life!What is Biogeography?!Argyroxiphium sandwicense - Haleakala silversword!1. How are organisms and their attributes distributed over the surface of the earth, and over the history of the earth?!2. Why do organisms and their attributes show these patterns of distribution?!• Biogeography is a broad field - requires information from:!ecology, systematics, evolutionary biology, population biology, genetics, cytology, morphology and anatomy, physiology, paleobiology, the geosciences, and natural history!Argyroxiphium sandwicense - Haleakala silversword!Approaches to Biogeography!• Biogeography is a broad field - requires information from:!ecology, systematics, evolutionary biology, population biology, genetics, cytology, morphology and anatomy, physiology, paleobiology, the geosciences, and natural history!• 3 main flavors of biogeography!Approaches to Biogeography!Argyroxiphium sandwicense - Haleakala silversword!4!Floristic (or Faunistic) Biogeography!— Where various taxa are distributed!Where are members of the Cactaceae (cactus family) found?!Where are members of the Bromeliaceae (pineapple family) found?!Provides the backbone of data for historical biogeography!— Where various taxa are distributed!Floristic (or Faunistic) Biogeography!Ecological Biogeography!Why do rainforests occur where they do?!The plants that dominate the rain forests of southeast Asia are taxonomically distinct from those of South America, but forests are physiognomically similar (e.g. giant buttress-rooted emergent trees)!Vegetation looks the same, but the floras are different (Humboldt!)!Koompassia!(Fabaceae)!— Distributions of attributes of organisms without concern to their classification!Why do deserts occur where they do?!The plants that dominate the deserts of North America are taxonomically distinct from those of Africa, but succulent plants are physiognomically similar!Vegetation looks the same, but the floras are different!Ecological Biogeography!— Distributions of attributes of organisms without concern to their classification!5!Similar body shapes and structures have evolved in the North & South American desert cacti . . .!!and separately in the euphorbias in southern African deserts!Vegetation vs. Flora provides numerous examples of unrelated organisms showing convergent (analogous) features as responses to similar environmental pressures!Ecological Biogeography!Related cacti have diverged tremendously in shape and habit in response to desert, subtropical forest, and tropical forest epiphytic conditions in the New World!Vegetation vs. Flora provides numerous examples of related organisms in one area showing divergent (homologous) features as responses to different environmental pressures!Ecological Biogeography!Historical Biogeography!— Combines organismal history with geological events to explain past and present distributions!Requires information from previous two branches of biogeography plus phylogenetics and earth history !The interplay of geological and biological evolution is critical in understanding why the Haleakala silversword is found in Maui, when and where it or its ancestors came from, and why it is has specific features of morphology, chromosome number, and physiology.!Historical Biogeography!— Combines organismal history with geological events to explain past and present distributions!6!Biogeography includes . . . island biogeography!Biogeography includes . . . dispersal biogeography!Jurassic Period (208 - 146 mya)!“Modern” genera are first seen for Ginkgo!Biogeography includes . . . paleobiogeography!The final shaping of North American (and Great Lakes) flora and vegetation occurs during the Recent Epoch (Holocene) following the glaciation of the Pleistocene!Pleistocene! Holocene!Biogeography includes . . . glacial history!7!Cretaceous!Present!Biogeography includes . . . plate tectonics!• geological strata continuous between continents!• fossil disjunct distributions between continents!Alfred Wegener (1920) described both plant and animal fossil examples supporting his theory — he believed that this biogeographic data was the strongest evidence for his theory!Glossopteris - Permian “fern”!Mesosaurus - Permian freshwater reptile !Cynognathus - Triassic land reptile!Lystrosaurus - Triassic land reptile!Biogeography includes . . . plate tectonics!“If philosophy is the devilʼs whore, as Martin Luther once quipped, then biogeography and biological systematics are fast becoming Old Nickʼs bordello” (Craw, 1988b)!Phylogenetics and historical biogeography are now intimately intertwined . . .!Biogeography +