[Taxacom] Long-distance oceanic dispersal (rafting) of Nothofagus species

Stephen Thorpe stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz
Sun Jun 3 19:53:44 CDT 2018


Evidence for long distance dispersal over vicariance must take into account entire biotas, not just selected taxa. Hawaii is the classic example.

Stephen

--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 4/6/18, John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Long-distance oceanic dispersal (rafting) of	Nothofagus species
 To: "Barry OConnor" <bmoc at umich.edu>
 Cc: "taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 Received: Monday, 4 June, 2018, 12:49 PM
 
 Barry,
 
 An answer to your question requires a bit of a
 clarification about
 dispersal and its
 relationship to biogeographic origin of allopatric taxa
 (which is what most biogeographic controversies
 are about), although
 probably best to read
 discussion about that in a more structured account
 such as you will find in Heads' books .
 Dispersal as an ordinary ecological
 process
 is what we observe in real time. It results in survival of
 the
 species and may result in range
 expansion under particular circumstances.
 Differentiation of allopatric taxa requires
 isolation. If dispersal is so
 pervasive as
 to preclude isolation then there cannot be allopatric
 differentiation. This is the tangle that
 emerges when dispersal is used as
 the
 mechanism to explain biogeographic patterns of allopatry. A
 resolution
 of this paradox is to view
 dispersal as operative in establishing ancestral
 range rather than creating isolated entities.
 So seeing  *Anolis* lizard on
 a raft of
 hurricane debris just off a Caribbean island is effectively
 no
 different from seeing any other organism
 moving or moved about. It has
 immediate
 ecological significance (in terms of metapopulation survival
 for
 example - again characterized in more
 detail by Heads) but its
 biogeographic role
 cannot be assumed.
 
 John
 Grehan
 
 On Sun, Jun 3, 2018
 at 7:28 PM, Barry OConnor <bmoc at umich.edu>
 wrote:
 
 > I'm curious
 - what is *evidence* of chance dispersal other than, say,
 > seeing an *Anolis* lizard on a raft of
 hurricane debris just off a
 > Caribbean
 island? - Barry
 >
 > On
 Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 7:08 PM, Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com>
 wrote:
 >
 >>
 John,
 >>
 >>   
    Well, you tossing out such red herrings will not
 dissuade me.
 >> Including the
 scientific one about frogs.  The two primitive frog
 families
 >> originated way back in the
 Paleozoic when the world map was much different
 >> (Gondwanaland still largely intact). 
 No long-distance dispersal
 >>
 necessary.  Vicariance explains that case quite nicely. 
 Nothofagus evolved
 >> much later
 (after the break up Gondwana), so I don't know why you
 tossed
 >> out that red herring.   
 And comparing my hypothesis to UFOs or an Act of
 >> God could be interpreted as a bit
 insulting.  And in your second post
 >> saying that "Chance dispersal
 continues to hold a very visceral appeal for
 >> evolutionary biologists", seems
 to indicate to me that many
 >>
 panbiogeographers tend to overstate the importance of
 vicariance and too
 >> often either
 ignore or attack evidence for chance dispersal when it is
 >> presented.  I suspect that is what
 will happen if any evidence is found to
 >> support my hypothesis.  One thing is
 certain---we won't find such evidence
 >> if we don't look for it.
 >>
 >>         
       -------------Ken
 >>
 >> P.S.  Your latest comment about
 "fairy tales" was a bit rude.  I don't
 >> see why the explanation I put forward
 and question I asked of Bart should
 >>
 be characterized as fairy tales.
 >>
 >>
 >>
 ________________________________
 >>
 From: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
 >> Sent: Sunday, June 3, 2018 9:46 AM
 >> To: Kenneth Kinman
 >> Cc: Stephen Thorpe; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
 >> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Long-distance
 oceanic dispersal (rafting) of
 >>
 Nothofagus species
 >>
 >> Ken,
 >>
 >> Its not a testable notion in any real
 sense any more than attributing the
 >>
 connection to UFO's. Further, it is not an 'odd'
 distribution, but one that
 >> is very
 even (meaning standard). One can invoke any number of
 imaginary
 >> events to toss plants and
 animals from one side of the Tasman to the other,
 >> or even just place them there by an
 Act of God, but there is no empirical
 >> imperative to do so for this any more
 than imagining a tsunami to toss
 >>
 frogs from Vancouver to New Zealand.
 >>
 >> John
 Grehan
 >>
 >> On
 Sun, Jun 3, 2018 at 8:38 AM, Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com
 >> <mailto:kinman at hotmail.com>>
 wrote:
 >> Hi Stephen,
 >>
 >>       But
 it could be somewhat scientifically testable if some
 organisms
 >> (mostly likely insects)
 have the same odd distribution in New Zealand and
 >> Tasmania (or adjacent Australia).  So
 I am hoping that some entomologist
 >>
 might know of insects that fit the bill.  And if there were
 more than one
 >> such organism, the
 more likely this dispersal scenario would become.
 >>
 >>       
 And note that I cited two different Nothofagus species
 groups with
 >> the same odd
 distribution (one in subgenus Lophozonia and the other in
 >> subgenus Fuscospora).  And those two
 dispersals could have happened at
 >>
 different times.  So that already increases the probability
 of dispersal.
 >> Anyway, at least Fred
 understood what I was suggesting:
 >>
 http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom/2006-December/108388.html
 >>
 >>
 >> -----------------Ken
 >>
 >>
 ________________________________
 >>
 From: Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz<mailto:
 >> stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>>
 >> Sent: Saturday, June 2, 2018 8:59
 PM
 >> To: Kenneth Kinman
 >> Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 >> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Long-distance
 oceanic dispersal (rafting) of
 >>
 Nothofagus species
 >>
 >> "Could certain insects, mosses,
 or other organisms have hitched a ride on
 >> such a Nothofagus raft?"
 >>
 >> Impossible to
 rule out just about anything that doesn't constantly
 >> require running freshwater. If it
 happened during summer, there could be a
 >> desiccating effect, but at other times
 the amount of freshwater dampness
 >>
 could remain at acceptable levels.
 >>
 >> The problem
 though, as I see it, is that these dispersion events are
 >> entirely random and unpredictable, so
 it is hard to base much in the way of
 >> science on it.
 >>
 >> Stephen
 >>
 >>
 --------------------------------------------
 >> On Sun, 3/6/18, Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com<mailto:kin
 >> man at hotmail.com>>
 wrote:
 >>
 >> 
 Subject: [Taxacom] Long-distance oceanic dispersal (rafting)
 of
 >> Nothofagus      species
 >>  To: "Kenneth Kinman"
 <kinman at hotmail.com<mailto:kinman at hotmail.com>>
 >>  Cc: "taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>"
 <
 >> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>
 >>
 >>  Received:
 Sunday, 3 June, 2018, 1:51 PM
 >>
 >>  Hi all,
 >>
 >>  The recent thread got me thinking
 about a debate that some
 >>  of us
 were having on taxacom almost 12 years ago.  Namely
 >>  whether long-distance oceanic
 dispersal (by rafting) was a
 >> 
 significant factor in the geographic distribution of some
 >>  species of Nothofagus (sensu
 lato).
 >>
 >>  
 My hypothesis was that large rafts of dislodged
 Nothofagus
 >>  trees (due to tsunami
 or other massive flooding event) could
 >>  have held some of their fruit above
 the ocean surface and
 >>  rafted from
 Tasmania to New Zealand, where one or more  new
 >>  species could evolve (due to founder
 effect).  This would
 >>  be a
 relatively short rafting event compared to the much
 >>  longer driftwood oceanic rafting
 that happened from South
 >>  America
 to Tasmania: Barber, 1959, in the journal Nature;
 >>  "Transport of Driftwood from
 South America to
 >>  Tasmania".
 Is there other evidence that such dispersal
 >>  of Nothofagus could have happened?
 Could certain insects,
 >>  mosses, or
 other organisms have hitched a ride on such a
 >>  Nothofagus raft?
 >>
 >>         
          --------------Ken Kinman
 >>  http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom/2006-December/108385.html
 >> 
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 1987-2018.
 >>
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 >> Nurturing
 Nuance while Assaulting Ambiguity for 31 Some Years,
 1987-2018.
 >>
 >
 >
 >
 >
 --
 > -So many mites, so little time!
 > Barry M. OConnor
 >
 Professor  & Curator
 > Department of
 Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
 >
 Research Museums Center
 > University of
 Michigan                  phone: 734-763-4354
 > 3600 Varsity Drive
 >
 <https://maps.google.com/?q=3600+Varsity+Drive&entry=gmail&source=g>
 >                    fax:
 734-763-4080
 > Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2228 
         e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
 >
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