Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem
Science Advances, vol. 6
Abstract
The scarcity of high-resolution empirical data directly tracking diversity over time limits our understanding of speciation and extinction dynamics and the drivers of rate changes. Here, we analyze a continuous species-level fossil record of endemic diatoms from ancient Lake Ohrid, along with environmental and climate indicator time series since lake formation 1.36 million years (Ma) ago. We show that speciation and extinction rates nearly simultaneously decreased in the environmentally dynamic phase after ecosystem formation and stabilized after deep-water conditions established in Lake Ohrid. As the lake deepens, we also see a switch in the macroevolutionary trade-off, resulting in a transition from a volatile assemblage of short-lived endemic species to a stable community of long-lived species. Our results emphasize the importance of the interplay between environmental/climate change, ecosystem stability, and environmental limits to diversity for diversification processes. The study also provides a new understanding of evolutionary dynamics in long-lived ecosystems.
Authors 33
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Thomas Wilke corresponding
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Utrecht University · Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Affiliation as printed
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
Palaeoecology, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Palaeoecology, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
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Affiliation as printed
National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK
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Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Biology, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia
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University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Department of Integrative Biology and University of California Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, Netherlands
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University of Fribourg · University of Gothenburg
Affiliation as printed
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Department of Biology, University of Fribourg (Ch. de Musee 10), 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
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University of Basel · Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Zoological Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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University of Bern · Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geological Sciences & Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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University of Cambridge · University of Bristol
Affiliation as printed
Cambridge University, Conservation Research Institute, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EP, UK
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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British Geological Survey · University of Nottingham
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
National Environmental Isotope Facility, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, UK
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Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Geography, Geology and Environment, University of Hull, Hull, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
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Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Biology, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia
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Smithsonian Institution · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · National Museum of Natural History · Université de Lille · Unité Évolution, Écologie et Paléontologie
Affiliation as printed
CNRS, Université de Lille, UMR 8198 Evo-Eco-Paleo, Lille, France
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Palaeoecology, Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · Utrecht University
Affiliation as printed
Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands
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Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Affiliation as printed
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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