MSGID: 1:317/3 64acdafd   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Global cooling caused diversity of species in orchids, confirms study   
      
      
     Date:   
         July 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Bath   
     Summary:   
         Research shows global cooling of the climate 10 million years ago   
         led to an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids.   
      
      
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   Research led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath   
   looking at the evolution of terrestrial orchid species has found that   
   global cooling of the climate appears to be the major driving factor   
   in their diversity. The results help scientists understand the role of   
   global climate on diversity of species, and how our current changing   
   global climate might affect biodiversity in the future.   
      
   One of the largest families of plants, there are around 28,000 species   
   of orchids growing across the world. These plants are known for their   
   huge variety of different sized and shaped flowers, so why are there so   
   many species Climate change driving speciation Charles Darwin studied   
   orchids as a model for evolution through natural selection, proposing   
   that they evolved an array of different flowers gradually over time to   
   attract specific pollinators.   
      
   However, scientists at the Universities of Bath and York studying almost   
   1500 species of terrestrial orchids, have found that rather than evolving   
   gradually over thousands of years, these plants diversified relatively   
   quickly due to changes in global temperature.   
      
   Analysing thousands of DNA sequences, they compiled a family tree showing   
   relationships between the species, and used statistical models to test   
   how changes in climate during the Earth's history might have driven the   
   formation of new species. They then tested the different possible models   
   using more than 2.5 million records of geographical distributions.   
      
   They found evidence that most of the species appeared during the last   
   10 million years, coinciding with global cooling, as calculated from   
   geological records.   
      
   Modelling the probability of different drivers of speciation suggested   
   that global cooling is 700 times more likely to influence speciation of   
   orchids than time alone.   
      
   Everything, everywhere, all at once Dr Jamie Thompson, first author of the   
   paper and researcher at the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University   
   of Bath, said: "Darwin proposed that orchids adapted gradually through   
   natural selection to attract different pollinators, but our data show   
   that it's more complicated than that.   
      
   "There was an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids across the   
   globe within the last 10 million years, with all the major lineages of   
   these plants emerging at roughly the same time.   
      
   "We found this correlated with global climate change, so that more   
   species emerged as the climate cooled, giving the first evidence of   
   global cooling driving speciation in these plants."  Speciation rate   
   independent of diversity The researchers also found that the speciation   
   rate -- how quickly new species arise -- wasn't dependent on how many   
   species there were to begin with.   
      
   Dr Nick Priest, Lecturer at the Milner Centre for Evolution and senior   
   author of the study, said: "Our biogeographic analysis revealed consistent   
   effects of climate change on speciation across the Earth. But we were   
   surprised to find that the regions that have high diversity don't   
   necessarily have high speciation rates.   
      
   "This has implications for conservation strategies -- that we can't just   
   count on preserving a few small pockets of land to protect evolutionary   
   diversity - - it's important to try and conserve everything we possibly   
   can.   
      
   "What we want to investigate next in all flowering plants is whether   
   there is a simple effect of temperature or if there is a threshold that   
   needs to be passed before there is a surge in speciation.   
      
   "We also want to predict how rising temperatures due to global climate   
   change will impact the processes generating plant biodiversity."  Dr Katie   
   Davis, Lecturer in Palaeobiology at the University of York, said:   
   "Our findings also show the importance of considering evolution over   
   geological time scales. Understanding how organisms evolve in response to   
   global environmental change has important implications for conservation   
   and we can only know this by looking at the deep evolutionary history."   
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bath. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Jamie B. Thompson, Katie E. Davis, Harry O. Dodd, Matthew A. Wills,   
         Nicholas K. Priest. Speciation across the Earth driven by global   
         cooling in terrestrial orchids. Proceedings of the National Academy   
         of Sciences, 2023; 120 (29) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2102408120   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710180446.htm   
      
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