Data from: Using molecular phylogenies in island biogeography: it’s about time

Island biogeography aims at inferring the processes that govern the assembly of communities in space and time. Molecular phylogenies can tell us about the timings of island colonisations and diversification, but have rarely been used for the estimation of colonisation, speciation and extinction rates on islands. In this study we illustrate the effects of including phylogenetic information with the Galápagos avifauna. We find that by including colonisation times we obtain much more precise and accurate parameter estimates than if we rely solely on species richness and endemicity status. Inclusion of branching times improves estimates even further. As molecular phylogenies become increasingly available, we urge biogeographers to start using more of the information they contain.

岛屿生物地理学旨在阐明调控群落在时空尺度上构建的核心过程。分子系统发育（Molecular Phylogenies）能够提供岛屿定殖与物种分化的时序信息，但此前极少被用于估算岛屿上的定殖、成种与灭绝速率。本研究以加拉帕戈斯鸟类区系为研究对象，阐明了纳入系统发育信息所产生的影响。研究结果显示，相较于仅依赖物种丰富度与特有性状态的分析，纳入定殖时间后可获得精度与准确度均显著提升的参数估计结果；进一步纳入系统发育分支时间，还可进一步优化参数估计效果。随着分子系统发育数据的可获取性不断提升，我们呼吁生物地理学家充分利用其中蕴含的更多信息。