Diversification in the Rosales is influenced by dispersal, geographic range size, and pre-existing species richness

Biodiversity results from origination and extinction; thus there is interest in determining those traits that influence this balance. Among traits implicated in the success or failure of lineages are dispersal, colonization ability, and geographic range size. We investigate the impact of dispersal and range size on contemporary diversity in the order Rosales.
 We use the MuSSE method to explore the effects on genus-level diversification of two genus-level traits (geographic range size and within-genus proclivity to speciate), and two species traits (seed dispersal and growth habit). We then used MuHiSSE for species-level associations. Finally, we conducted a PGLS (phylogenetic least-squares) analysis to distinguish between speciation within genera versus origination of new genera.
At the species-level, animal dispersal enhances diversification rate in both woody and herbaceous lineages, while woody lineages without animal dispersal have higher extinction rates than speciation rates. At ...