Relationship between climatic-niche evolution and species diversification in Annonaceae, a pantropical family

Higher species diversity in the tropics is associated with local climate. However, how climate influences species diversification in the tropics remains unclear. To understand the effects of climate on tropical species diversification, we calculated the rate of climatic-niche evolution in the pantropical family Annonaceae. and its correlation with net diversification using phylogenetic comparative analyses. Results showed that:(1) The rate of climatic-niche evolution in Annonaceae was low, but the rates for newly differentiated taxa were relatively high. (2) The evolutionary rates of the lower boundary of the climatic niche (low temperature and low precipitation) were faster than the upper boundary (high temperature and high precipitation). (3) Net diversification rates were closely related to climatic-niche evolution, especially the temperature niche rates. Our results revealed the importance of climatic-niche evolution in species diversification of Annonaceae, providing an important reference for its protection under current climate change.