A comprehensive phylogeography of the widespread pond snail genus Radix revealed restricted colonization due to niche conservatism

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 11; no. 24; pp. 18446 - 18459
• Main Authors: Saito, Takumi, Hirano, Takahiro, Ye, Bin, Prozorova, Larisa, Shovon, Mohammad Shariar, Do, Tu Van, Kimura, Kazuki, Surenkhorloo, Purevdorj, Kameda, Yuichi, Morii, Yuta, Fukuda, Hiroshi, Chiba, Satoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Annual precipitation; Biodiversity; Biogeography; Climate models; Climatic data; Colonization; Current distribution; dispersal; Ecological niches; Ecology; freshwater snail; Gastropoda; Geographical coordinates; Geographical distribution; Immigration; latitudinal diversity gradient; Lymnaeidae; Mollusca; Mollusks; Morphology; Niches; passive disperser; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Snails; Statistical tests; tropical conservatism hypothesis; passive disperser; freshwater snail; tropical conservatism hypothesis; dispersal; Lymnaeidae; Mollusca; latitudinal diversity gradient
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8434

To clarify the effect of niche conservatism on evolutionary history, we focused on freshwater snails, which have different ecological and phylogenetic properties from previously tested taxa. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis using 750 lymnaeid individuals from 357 sites of eleven Radix species. Then, we estimated the ancestral distribution using the geographic coordinates and colonization routes. In addition, a statistical test of the colonization distances in the latitudinal and longitudinal directions was performed. We also conducted ecological niche modeling for two widely distributed species using climatic data. Ancestral geographic reconstruction estimated the origin of the genus to be around the Indian subcontinental region and showed that latitudinal immigration distances were shorter than longitudinal immigration distances in the diversification process. Ecological niche models suggested that the current distribution was restricted by climate, with annual mean temperature and precipitation of the driest month as particularly strong factors. Niche conservatism to the climate can affect the diversification of freshwater snails. To clarify the effect of niche conservatism on evolutionary history, we conducted a comprehensive phylogeography and estimation of dispersal routes. As a results, niche conservatism can affect the diversification of freshwater snails, genus Radix.