Testing for phylogenetic signal in phenotypic traits: new matrices of phylogenetic proximities.
Abouheif adapted a test for serial independence to detect a phylogenetic signal in phenotypic traits. We provide the exact analytic value of this test, revealing that it uses Moran's I statistic with a new matrix of phylogenetic proximities. We introduce then two new matrices of phylogenetic proximities highlighting their mathematical properties: matrix A which is used in Abouheif test and matrix M which is related to A and biodiversity studies. Matrix A unifies the tests developed by Abouheif, Moran and Geary. We discuss the advantages of matrices A and M over three widely used phylogenetic proximity matrices through simulations evaluating power and type-I error of tests for phylogenetic autocorrelation. We conclude that A enhances the power of Moran's test and is useful for unresolved trees. Data sets and routines are freely available in an online package and explained in an online supplementary file.
Pavoine
Sandrine
S
Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, UMR CNRS 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, France. pavoine@mnhn.fr
Ollier
Sébastien
S
Pontier
Dominique
D
Chessel
Daniel
D
D003198:Computer Simulation; D005602:France; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010802:Phylogeny; D011156:Population Density