Abstract Detail

Modeling the processes that mediate speciation and extinction rates across plants

Tribble, Carrie [1], Zenil-Ferguson, Rosana [1].

Modeling the processes that mediate speciation and extinction rates across plants.

Understanding pulses of speciation and extinction is central to generating broad macroevolutionary theories. A class of phylogenetic models, birth-death (BD) models, seeks to estimate rates of speciation and extinction in groups of organisms as well as determine the factors that may influence these rates. At their most basic, these models use phylogenetic trees and their information of evolutionary relationships between species to determine the pace of speciation and extinction. At their most complex, BD models permit hierarchical dating methods through the inclusion of fossil taxa in phylogenetic inference (total evidence dating via the fossilized birth-death model), incorporate the effects of species characteristics and hidden states on rates (state-dependent speciation and extinction models), and allow rates to vary over time (the episodic birth-death model, among others) or across lineages in the tree. Given their flexibility to address a myriad of evolutionary questions, birth-death models have garnered increasing attention from broad swaths of the botanical research community, and the biodiversity research communityin general. Notably, these methods have allowed researchers to investigate if self-incompatible species diversify at higher rates than self-compatible species (e.g. Goldberg et al., 2010), if polyploid species diversify at slower rates thandiploids (e.g., Scarpino et al., 2014; Mayrose et al., 2011), the effect of mutualistic relationships on diversification rates (e.g. Weber and Agrawal, 2014), and how diversification rates vary across angiosperms (e.g. Magallon and Sanderson, 2001), among many other critical research questions. However, some recent work has begun to question the effectiveness ofthese methods, and disputes over the accuracy of particular programs have left many empiricists wondering which, if any, BD models are appropriate for addressing their research questions. In this symposium, we highlight recent work that addresses the accuracy of BD models, innovative implementations of BD models in empirical systems, and the development of novel modifications to BD models to address previous pitfalls. Presentations will range from introductory to advanced topics in birth-death models, with an emphasis on applications in botanical systems. To encourage participation from all researchers regardless of prior familiarity with BD models, we will begin the symposium with a general introduction. Following presentations from the speakers, we will reserve time for a concluding discussion to promote conversation on the presented topics and between empiricists and model developers.

1 - University Of Hawaii At Manoa, Department Of Biology, 2538 McCarthy Mall, Edmondson Hall 216, Honolulu, HI, 96822, United States

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C01, Modeling the processes that mediate speciation and extinction rates across plants
Location: /
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 10:00 AM(EDT)
Number: C01SUM
Abstract ID:11
Candidate for Awards:None