title: Geography and major host evolutionary transitions shape the resource use of plant parasites.
abstract: The evolution of resource use in herbivores has been conceptualized as an analog of the theory of island biogeography, assuming that plant species are islands separated by phylogenetic distances. Despite its usefulness, this analogy has paradoxically led to neglecting real biogeographical processes in the study of macroevolutionary patterns of herbivore-plant interactions. Here we show that host use is mostly determined by the geographical cooccurrence of hosts and parasites in spider mites (Tetranychidae), a globally distributed group of plant parasites. Strikingly, geography accounts for most of the phylogenetic signal in host use by these parasites. Beyond geography, only evolutionary transitions among major plant lineages (i.e., gymnosperms, commelinids, and eudicots) shape resource use patterns in these herbivores. Still, even these barriers have been repeatedly overcome in evolutionary time, resulting in phylogenetically diverse parasite communities feeding on similar hosts. Therefore, our results imply that patterns of apparent evolutionary conservatism may largely be a byproduct of the geographic cooccurrence of hosts and parasites.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientÍficas (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain; j.calatayud.ortega@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calatayud
authors.affiliation: Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), 22700 Jaca, Spain; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, CH1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hórreo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Madrid, Spain;
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Madrigal-González
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR CBGP, F-34988 Montferrier-sur-Lez, France;
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Migeon
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Madrid, Spain;
authors.forename: Miguel Á
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientÍficas (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain; Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hortal
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000073930:Biological Coevolution; D005843:Geography; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D063148:Plant Dispersal / Q000502:physiology; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D040102:Tetranychidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
keywords: evolutionary conservatism; geographic signal; host use evolution; parasite–host interactions; spider mites