Investigating Biotic Interactions in Deep Time

Danielle Fraser; Laura C Soul; Anikó B Tóth; Meghan A Balk; Jussi T Eronen; Silvia Pineda-Munoz; Alexandria B Shupinski; Amelia Villaseñor; W Andrew Barr; Anna K Behrensmeyer; Andrew Du; J Tyler Faith; Nicholas J Gotelli; Gary R Graves; Advait M Jukar; Cindy V Looy; Joshua H Miller; Richard Potts; S Kathleen Lyons

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.001

Investigating Biotic Interactions in Deep Time

Trends Ecol Evol. 2021 Jan;36(1):61-75. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.001. Epub 2020 Oct 13.

Authors

Danielle Fraser¹, Laura C Soul², Anikó B Tóth³, Meghan A Balk⁴, Jussi T Eronen⁵, Silvia Pineda-Munoz⁶, Alexandria B Shupinski⁷, Amelia Villaseñor⁸, W Andrew Barr⁹, Anna K Behrensmeyer², Andrew Du¹⁰, J Tyler Faith¹¹, Nicholas J Gotelli¹², Gary R Graves¹³, Advait M Jukar², Cindy V Looy¹⁴, Joshua H Miller¹⁵, Richard Potts¹⁶, S Kathleen Lyons⁷

Affiliations

¹ Palaeobiology, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Biology and Earth Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Paleobiology and Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC , USA. Electronic address: DFraser@nature.ca.
² Department of Paleobiology and Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC , USA.
³ Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Department of Paleobiology and Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC , USA; BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁵ Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; BIOS research Unit, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁷ School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
⁹ Department of Paleobiology and Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC , USA; Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
¹¹ Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT,USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
¹² Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
¹³ Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA; Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁴ Department of Integrative Biology, Museum of Paleontology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA , USA.
¹⁵ Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
¹⁶ Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC , USA.

PMID: 33067015
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.001

Abstract

Recent renewed interest in using fossil data to understand how biotic interactions have shaped the evolution of life is challenging the widely held assumption that long-term climate changes are the primary drivers of biodiversity change. New approaches go beyond traditional richness and co-occurrence studies to explicitly model biotic interactions using data on fossil and modern biodiversity. Important developments in three primary areas of research include analysis of (i) macroevolutionary rates, (ii) the impacts of and recovery from extinction events, and (iii) how humans (Homo sapiens) affected interactions among non-human species. We present multiple lines of evidence for an important and measurable role of biotic interactions in shaping the evolution of communities and lineages on long timescales.

Keywords: biotic interactions; extinction; fossil record; macroecology; macroevolution; paleobiology; paleontology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Biodiversity*
Biological Evolution
Climate Change
Fossils*