Where did they come from, where did they go? Niche conservatism in woody and herbaceous plants and implications for plant-based paleoclimatic reconstructions.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

The ecological conditions that constrain plants to an environmental niche are assumed to be constant through time. While the fossil record has been used previously to test for niche conservatism of woody flowering plants, additional studies are needed in other plant groups especially since they can provide insight with paleoclimatic reconstructions, high biodiversity in modern terrestrial ecosystems, and significant contributions to agriculture.

Methods

We tested climatic niche conservatism across time by characterizing the climatic niches of living herbaceous ginger plants (Zingiberaceae) and woody dawn redwood (Metasequoia) against paleoniches reconstructed based on fossil distribution data and paleoclimatic models.

Results

Despite few fossil Zingiberaceae o

SUBMITTER: Quirk ZJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11584045 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature