Data from: Microhabitat and climatic niche change explain patterns of diversification among frog families

A major goal of ecology and evolutionary biology is to explain patterns of
species richness among clades. Differences in rates of net diversification
(speciation minus extinction over time) may often explain these patterns,
but the factors that drive variation in diversification rates remain
uncertain. Three important candidates are climatic niche position (e.g.,
whether clades are primarily temperate or tropical), rates of climatic
niche change among species within clades, and microhabitat (e.g., aquatic,
terrestrial, arboreal). The first two factors have been tested separately
in several studies, but the relative importance of all three is largely
unknown. Here we explore the correlates of diversification among families
of frogs, which collectively represent ∼88% of amphibian species. We
assemble and analyze data on phylogeny, climate, and microhabitat for
thousands of species. We find that the best-fitting phylogenetic multiple
regression model includes all three types of variables: microhabitat,
rates of climatic niche change, and climatic niche position. This model
explains 67% of the variation in diversification rates among frog
families, with arboreal microhabitat explaining ∼31%, niche rates ∼25%,
and climatic niche position ∼11%. Surprisingly, we show that microhabitat
can have a much stronger influence on diversification than climatic niche
position or rates of climatic niche change.