Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Science Advances
Macroevolutionary dynamics and predictors of tropical rain forest plant diversity
39 affiliations
- 1DIADE, Université de Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier, France.
- 2National Herbarium of New South Wales, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, Mount Annan, Australia.
- 3Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
- 4New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA.
- 5Centro de Biociências, Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
- 6Science Directorate, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, UK.
- 7AMAP, Univ Montpellier, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier, France.
- 8AMAP, IRD, Herbier de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouméa, New Caledonia.
- 9Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand.
- 10Herbarium, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
- 11Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- 12Singapore Botanic Gardens, National Parks Board, Singapore, Singapore.
- 13Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
- 14System Earth Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Venlo, Netherlands.
- 15Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, Paris, France.
- 16Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, USA.
- 17Botanical Garden, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
- 18Chair of Botany, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
- 19Division of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand.
- 20Flora Conservation Department, Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- 21Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil.
- 22Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- 23Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto de Biología, UNAM, Ciudad de México (CDMX), México.
- 24Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, UNAM, Ciudad de México (CDMX), México.
- 25Department of Biology, City College of New York, New York, NY, USA.
- 26WasiLab, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
- 27Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México (CDMX), México.
- 28Herbario QCA, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Naturales y Ambientales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
- 29University Museum, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- 30Department of Botany, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- 31Mention Biologie et Ecologie Végétales, Faculté des Sciences, Université d’Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
- 32Department of Biology, Higher Teachers' Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
- 33Africa and Madagascar Department, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA.
- 34Alliance for Conservation Tree Genomics, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 35Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
- 36Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
- 37IBED, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- 38The Pringle Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
- 39CNRS, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Abstract
Tropical rain forest is the most diverse terrestrial biome, yet the drivers of its diversification across space and time remain poorly understood. Although heterogeneous diversification rates, including both ancient and recent radiations, have been reported, these dynamics have rarely been examined within a single lineage across deep evolutionary timescales. Here, we reconstruct a dated phylogenomic tree of the pantropical plant family Annonaceae, sampling 2045 species (∼82% of its diversity) and spanning ∼100 million years of evolutionary history. Diversification dynamics vary markedly across tropical regions, correlated with distinct environmental factors rather than uniform processes. Sea level fluctuations dominate in the Asia-Pacific, whereas paleotemperature shapes diversification in the Afrotropics and Neotropics. We also detect a Late Cretaceous increase in diversification, indicating that a substantial portion of Annonaceae diversity originated before the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Together, these results highlight how regional environmental trajectories have shaped the assembly of a diverse tropical plant family over deep evolutionary time.
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BibTeX
@article{holzmeyer2026macroevolutionary,
title = {{Macroevolutionary dynamics and predictors of tropical rain forest plant diversity}},
author = {Laura Holzmeyer and Francis J. Nge and Susana Arias Guerrero and Kate E. Armstrong and Márcio L. Bazante and Roxali Bijmoer and Renata Borosova and David D. Bruy and Pasakorn Bunchalee and Tanawat Chaowasku and Lars W. Chatrou and Junhao Chen and Léo-Paul M. J. Dagallier and Anissara Damthongdee and Roy H. J. Erkens and Federico Fabriani and Luiz H. M. Fonseca and Myriam Gaudeul and Paul H. Hoekstra and David M. Johnson and Thea Lautenschläger and Charan Leeratiwong and Ming-Fai Liu and Adriana A. Q. Lobão and Jenifer C. Lopes and Cedric Mariac and Maria F. Martínez-Velarde and Kathryn P. Mercier and Fabian A. Michelangeli and Rommel Montúfar and Jérôme J. Munzinger and Nancy A. Murray and Andrés E. Ortiz-Rodriguez and Álvaro J. Pérez and Michael D. Pirie and Heimo Rainer and Mijoro Rakotoarinivo and Carlos Rodrigues-Vaz and Germinal Rouhan and Hervé Sauquet and Bonaventure Sonké and Vincent R. C. Soulé and Tariq Stévart and Serafin J. R. Streiff and Joeri S. Strijk and Delphine Tardif and Daniel C. Thomas and Archimède Towe Patipe and Jan J. Wieringa and J. Nicolás Zapata and Pierre Sepulchre and Fabien L. Condamine and Thomas L. P. Couvreur},
journal = {Science Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aee4197},
url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee4197},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Macroevolutionary dynamics and predictors of tropical rain forest plant diversity
AU - Laura Holzmeyer
AU - Francis J. Nge
AU - Susana Arias Guerrero
AU - Kate E. Armstrong
AU - Márcio L. Bazante
AU - Roxali Bijmoer
AU - Renata Borosova
AU - David D. Bruy
AU - Pasakorn Bunchalee
AU - Tanawat Chaowasku
AU - Lars W. Chatrou
AU - Junhao Chen
AU - Léo-Paul M. J. Dagallier
AU - Anissara Damthongdee
AU - Roy H. J. Erkens
AU - Federico Fabriani
AU - Luiz H. M. Fonseca
AU - Myriam Gaudeul
AU - Paul H. Hoekstra
AU - David M. Johnson
AU - Thea Lautenschläger
AU - Charan Leeratiwong
AU - Ming-Fai Liu
AU - Adriana A. Q. Lobão
AU - Jenifer C. Lopes
AU - Cedric Mariac
AU - Maria F. Martínez-Velarde
AU - Kathryn P. Mercier
AU - Fabian A. Michelangeli
AU - Rommel Montúfar
AU - Jérôme J. Munzinger
AU - Nancy A. Murray
AU - Andrés E. Ortiz-Rodriguez
AU - Álvaro J. Pérez
AU - Michael D. Pirie
AU - Heimo Rainer
AU - Mijoro Rakotoarinivo
AU - Carlos Rodrigues-Vaz
AU - Germinal Rouhan
AU - Hervé Sauquet
AU - Bonaventure Sonké
AU - Vincent R. C. Soulé
AU - Tariq Stévart
AU - Serafin J. R. Streiff
AU - Joeri S. Strijk
AU - Delphine Tardif
AU - Daniel C. Thomas
AU - Archimède Towe Patipe
AU - Jan J. Wieringa
AU - J. Nicolás Zapata
AU - Pierre Sepulchre
AU - Fabien L. Condamine
AU - Thomas L. P. Couvreur
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Science Advances
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aee4197
UR - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aee4197
AB - Tropical rain forest is the most diverse terrestrial biome, yet the drivers of its diversification across space and time remain poorly understood. Although heterogeneous diversification rates, including both ancient and recent radiations, have been reported, these dynamics have rarely been examined within a single lineage across deep evolutionary timescales. Here, we reconstruct a dated phylogenomic tree of the pantropical plant family Annonaceae, sampling 2045 species (∼82% of its diversity) and spanning ∼100 million years of evolutionary history. Diversification dynamics vary markedly across tropical regions, correlated with distinct environmental factors rather than uniform processes. Sea level fluctuations dominate in the Asia-Pacific, whereas paleotemperature shapes diversification in the Afrotropics and Neotropics. We also detect a Late Cretaceous increase in diversification, indicating that a substantial portion of Annonaceae diversity originated before the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Together, these results highlight how regional environmental trajectories have shaped the assembly of a diverse tropical plant family over deep evolutionary time.
SN - 2375-2548
ER -