Dissertation Research: History matters: predicting fine-scale biodiversity in a dynamic rainforest system

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

Invertebrates represent the bulk of animal diversity, but are rarely represented in spatial analyses of biodiversity. This project sheds light on the relative contributions of contemporary and historical climate in shaping patterns of species turnover of invertebrate taxa in a high biodiversity area, the rainforests of north eastern Australia. Although it is recognized that historical conditions play a large role in shaping contemporary patterns of biodiversity, history is rarely included in empirical models. The proposed work integrates molecular, distributional and environmental data with spatially explicit models of late Pleistocene climate fluctuation to predict turnover in two diverse, but poorly-known invertebrate groups, insects and snails. The proposed project examines the effect of dispersal capability on patterns of species turnover and the effect of geographic scale in shaping the relative contribution of historical and contemporary factors on species turnover. This research strengthens existing international research partnerships with taxonomists and ecological modelers in Australia. Results of this research will be disseminated in scientific and public forums in the USA and Australia. This research will benefit society by describing how species have responded to climate change in the past to better understand how they may respond in the future. The methods and insights developed here regarding the effect of history on the spatial distribution of invertebrate biodiversity have relevance to high biodiversity ecosystems worldwide.