The study of diversity has become increasingly sophisticated, including the use of measures of phylogenetic diversity. We calculate the spatial variation in species richness, taxonomic beta diversity, and alpha and beta phylogenetic diversity ( We compare the congruence of phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity patterns, and also compare Species richness and Communities in the southern and south‐eastern regions were dominated by species from the large family Gonyleptidae, presenting a high richness and a low Phylogenetic diversity may be of special importance to assess the conservation value of distantly related lineages. These species‐poor groups are less likely to influence taxonomic‐based diversity analyses, but their importance for conservation arises from their phylogenetic distinctiveness, captured by
Alternative hypotheses of Darwin's Naturalization Conundrum (
Eastern United States of America.
We examine multiple communities across a north–south transect of the eastern United States to test whether non‐native species richness and abundance are associated with phylogenetic diversity measures of the native community. We also test whether non‐native species are consistently closely or distantly related to native species using two approaches differing in phylogenetic scale and whether this differs with ecologically successful species.
Our analyses did not unambiguously resolve
Phylogenetic relationships can reveal important details about community assembly in diverse ecological settings. However, given the multifaceted nature of community assembly, phylogenetic metrics alone have limited utility as a general predictive tool for community invasion. Our study highlights a need to incorporate additional types of data to better understand why some communities are more susceptible to non‐native species establishment.
- Award ID(s):
- 1550813
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10245374
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Diversity and Distributions
- Volume:
- 25
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1366-9516
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 361-373
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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