title: Convergent and correlated evolution of major life-history traits in the angiosperm genus Leucadendron (Proteaceae).
abstract: Natural selection is expected to cause convergence of life histories among taxa as well as correlated evolution of different life-history traits. Here, we quantify the extent of convergence of five key life-history traits (adult fire survival, seed storage, degree of sexual dimorphism, pollination mode, and seed-dispersal mode) and test hypotheses about their correlated evolution in the genus Leucadendron (Proteaceae) from the fire-prone South African fynbos. We reconstructed a new molecular phylogeny of this highly diverse genus that involves more taxa and molecular markers than previously. This reconstruction identifies new clades that were not detected by previous molecular study and morphological classifications. Using this new phylogeny and robust methods that account for phylogenetic uncertainty, we show that the five life-history traits studied were labile during the evolutionary history of the genus. This diversity allowed us to tackle major questions about the correlated evolution of life-history strategies. We found that species with longer seed-dispersal distances tended to evolve lower pollen-dispersal distance, that insect-pollinated species evolved decreased sexual dimorphism, and that species with a persistent soil seed-bank evolved toward reduced fire-survival ability of adults.
authors: Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier, CNRS (UMR 5554), Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 05, France. jeanne.tonnabel@univ-montp2.fr.
authors: Jeanne
authors: J
authors: Tonnabel
authors: Agnès
authors: A
authors: Mignot
authors: Emmanuel J P
authors: EJ
authors: Douzery
authors: Anthony G
authors: AG
authors: Rebelo
authors: Frank M
authors: FM
authors: Schurr
authors: Jeremy
authors: J
authors: Midgley
authors: Nicola
authors: N
authors: Illing
authors: Fabienne
authors: F
authors: Justy
authors: Denis
authors: D
authors: Orcel
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Olivieri
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D010802:Phylogeny; D054817:Pollination / Q000235:genetics; D039105:Proteaceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology*; D058614:Seed Dispersal / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant
keywords: Convergence; Proteaceae; correlated evolution; dispersal; fire; resprouting; seed banks; sexual dimorphism