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Biodiversity and Topographic Complexity: Modern and Geohistorical Perspectives

  • Catherine Badgley
  • , Tara M. Smiley
  • , Rebecca Terry
  • , Edward B. Davis
  • , Larisa R.G. DeSantis
  • , David L. Fox
  • , Samantha S.B. Hopkins
  • , Tereza Jezkova
  • , Marjorie D. Matocq
  • , Nick Matzke
  • , Jenny L. McGuire
  • , Andreas Mulch
  • , Brett R. Riddle
  • , V. Louise Roth
  • , Joshua X. Samuels
  • , Caroline A.E. Strömberg
  • , Brian J. Yanites
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Oregon State University
  • University of Oregon
  • Vanderbilt University
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • University of Arizona
  • University of Nevada, Reno
  • Australian National University
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
  • Goethe University Frankfurt
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Duke University
  • East Tennessee State University
  • University of Washington
  • Indiana University Bloomington

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

259 Scopus citations

Abstract

Topographically complex regions on land and in the oceans feature hotspots of biodiversity that reflect geological influences on ecological and evolutionary processes. Over geologic time, topographic diversity gradients wax and wane over millions of years, tracking tectonic or climatic history. Topographic diversity gradients from the present day and the past can result from the generation of species by vicariance or from the accumulation of species from dispersal into a region with strong environmental gradients. Biological and geological approaches must be integrated to test alternative models of diversification along topographic gradients. Reciprocal illumination among phylogenetic, phylogeographic, ecological, paleontological, tectonic, and climatic perspectives is an emerging frontier of biogeographic research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)211-226
Number of pages16
JournalTrends in Ecology and Evolution
Volume32
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2017

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