Plate tectonics drive tropical reef biodiversity dynamics

Fabien Leprieur, Patrice Descombes, Théo Gaboriau, Peter F. Cowman, Valeriano Parravicini, Michel Kulbicki, Carlos J. Melián, Charles N. de Santana, Christian Heine, David Mouillot, David R. Bellwood and Loïc Pellissier ()
Additional contact information
Fabien Leprieur: UMR MARBEC, (CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, UM)
Patrice Descombes: University of Fribourg, Unit of Ecology & Evolution
Théo Gaboriau: UMR MARBEC, (CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, UM)
Peter F. Cowman: Yale University
Valeriano Parravicini: CRIOBE, USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD
Michel Kulbicki: Institut pour la Recherche en Développement, UR UMR "Entropie" -Labex Corail- Université de Perpignan
Carlos J. Melián: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Charles N. de Santana: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Christian Heine: EarthByte Group, The University of Sydney
David Mouillot: UMR MARBEC, (CNRS, IRD, IFREMER, UM)
David R. Bellwood: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Loïc Pellissier: University of Fribourg, Unit of Ecology & Evolution

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana strongly modified the global distribution of shallow tropical seas reshaping the geographic configuration of marine basins. However, the links between tropical reef availability, plate tectonic processes and marine biodiversity distribution patterns are still unknown. Here, we show that a spatial diversification model constrained by absolute plate motions for the past 140 million years predicts the emergence and movement of diversity hotspots on tropical reefs. The spatial dynamics of tropical reefs explains marine fauna diversification in the Tethyan Ocean during the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic, and identifies an eastward movement of ancestral marine lineages towards the Indo-Australian Archipelago in the Miocene. A mechanistic model based only on habitat-driven diversification and dispersal yields realistic predictions of current biodiversity patterns for both corals and fishes. As in terrestrial systems, we demonstrate that plate tectonics played a major role in driving tropical marine shallow reef biodiversity dynamics.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11461

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