Unravelling distribution patterns of Neotropical lianas: an analysis of endemicity of tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae)

Abstract

Areas of endemism characterize geographical regions by their unique biotas, providing the basis for studies on the ecological and historical drivers of these biologically distinct units. Tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae) are a highly diverse clade of lianas distributed throughout the Neotropics, representing an excellent model for studying the drivers of species diversity and distribution patterns in this region. We used a dataset representing 98% of the diversity of Bignonieae and 21 170 unique locality records to perform an analysis of endemicity using NDM/VNDM. We recovered areas of endemism distributed across the Neotropics, including a higher number of areas at coarser spatial scales. Although overlapping and nested patterns of endemism were common and the spatial congruence with the individual units of previous regionalization schemes was low, the patterns of endemism recovered were in general agreement with those documented for other taxa. Our findings are generally consistent with key Neotropical biogeographical hypotheses. These results highlight the importance of studying detailed distribution patterns of selected taxa for an improved understanding of Neotropical biogeography.