Why woodiness repeatedly evolves—and disappears
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Abstract
Abstract Derived woodiness—the evolution of woody growth from herbaceous ancestors—has arisen hundreds of times across flowering plants, yet the environmental conditions associated with its repeated evolution remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse woodiness evolution in the mustard family (Brassicaceae; ∼4,150 species) using a time-calibrated phylogeny of 2,927 species, including 374 of the 385 known woody species, together with global growth-form and climatic niche data. We infer 231 independent origins of woodiness alongside 176 reversals to herbaceousness, indicating that woodiness evolves repeatedly but remains evolutionarily unstable. Although woody species are enriched on islands, most occur on the mainland, where woodiness is consistently associated with drought and reduced frost. Correlated-evolution analyses reveal that drought is associated primarily with the persistence of woodiness, whereas reduced frost is associated with gains of woodiness and increased frost with its loss. These findings identify distinct climatic associations with the gain, persistence, and loss of woody growth forms.
Authors 53
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · Osnabrück University
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Department of Biology, Botany, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA
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Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia
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Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Cluster of Excellence GreenRobust, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · University of Amsterdam
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Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, UK
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Department of Biology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
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Department of Botany, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas · Real Jardín Botánico
Affiliation as printed
Herbario, Real Jardín Botánico (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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Affiliation as printed
Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Cluster of Excellence GreenRobust, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
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Digital Solutions & Infrastructures, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Department of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
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Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
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Slovak Academy of Sciences · Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
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Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
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Lomonosov Moscow State University
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Herbarium (MW), M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
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Department of Biology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
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Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
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Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité · Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
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Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
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Department of Biology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
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Allan Herbarium, Bioeconomy Science Institute, Lincoln, New Zealand
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Central European Institute of Technology · Masaryk University · Central European Institute of Technology – Masaryk University
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Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
Department of Experimental Biology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
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Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
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School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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Central European Institute of Technology · Masaryk University · Central European Institute of Technology – Masaryk University
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Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
Department of Experimental Biology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
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M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany
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National Herbarium of Ukraine (KW), M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, Kyiv, Ukraine
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North Carolina State University · Duke University
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Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
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Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin · Freie Universität Berlin
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Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Reneco International Wildlife Consultants LLC, Reneco North Africa, Rabat, Morocco
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Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium
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University of Copenhagen · Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh · Natural History Museum of Denmark
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Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Natural History Museum Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Harvard University Herbaria, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
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Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Kunming Institute of Botany · Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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ETH Zurich · Institute of Integrative Biology
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Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Botanic Garden of Geneva, Chambésy, Switzerland
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South African National Biodiversity Institute
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South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa
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Wageningen University & Research
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Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Indiana University Bloomington · Indiana University
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Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
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Aarhus University · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
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Meise Botanic Garden · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · French Community of Belgium
Affiliation as printed
Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
Service Général de l’Enseignement supérieur & de la Recherche scientifique, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Biology, Botany, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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Frederic Lens Aachen Functional Traits Group Naturalis Biodiversity Center Institute of Biology Leiden
Leiden University · Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Affiliation as printed
Functional Traits group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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