title: Bridging Inter- and Intraspecific Trait Evolution with a Hierarchical Bayesian Approach.
abstract: The evolution of organisms is crucially dependent on the evolution of intraspecific variation. Its interactions with selective agents in the biotic and abiotic environments underlie many processes, such as intraspecific competition, resource partitioning and, eventually, species formation. Nevertheless, comparative models of trait evolution neither allow explicit testing of hypotheses related to the evolution of intraspecific variation nor do they simultaneously estimate rates of trait evolution by accounting for both trait mean and variance. Here, we present a model of phenotypic trait evolution using a hierarchical Bayesian approach that simultaneously incorporates interspecific and intraspecific variation. We assume that species-specific trait means evolve under a simple Brownian motion process, whereas species-specific trait variances are modeled with Brownian or Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. After evaluating the power of the method through simulations, we examine whether life-history traits impact evolution of intraspecific variation in the Eriogonoideae (buckwheat family, Polygonaceae). Our model is readily extendible to more complex scenarios of the evolution of inter- and intraspecific variation and presents a step toward more comprehensive comparative models for macroevolutionary studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Quartier Sorge, 1015 Lausanne, Swizterland;
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kostikova
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Quartier Sorge, 1015 Lausanne, Swizterland; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Carl Skottsbergsgata 22B, 413 19 Gothenburg, Sweden;
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silvestro
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; and IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Pearman
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Quartier Sorge, 1015 Lausanne, Swizterland; nicolas.salamin@unil.ch.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salamin
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods*; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D019664:Polygonaceae / Q000145:classification; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Comparative phylogenetics; Markov Chain Monte Carlo; hierarchical Bayesian model; intraspecific variance; macroevolution; niche breadth