Data from: Prediction of phylogeographic endemism in an environmentally complex biome.

Phylogeographic endemism, the degree to which the history of recently
evolved lineages is spatially restricted, reflects fundamental
evolutionary processes such as cryptic divergence, adaptation and
biological responses to environmental heterogeneity. Attempts to explain
the extraordinary diversity of the tropics, which often includes deep
phylogeographic structure, frequently invoke interactions of climate
variability across space, time and topography. To evaluate historical
versus contemporary drivers of phylogeographic endemism in a tropical
system, we analyse the effects of current and past climatic variation on
the genetic diversity of 25 vertebrates in the Brazilian Atlantic
rainforest. We identify two divergent bioclimatic domains within the
forest and high turnover around the Rio Doce. Independent modelling of
these domains demonstrates that endemism patterns are subject to different
climatic drivers. Past climate dynamics, specifically areas of relative
stability, predict phylogeographic endemism in the north. Conversely,
contemporary climatic heterogeneity better explains endemism in the south.
These results accord with recent speleothem and fossil pollen studies,
suggesting that climatic variability through the last 250 kyr impacted the
northern and the southern forests differently. Incorporating sub-regional
differences in climate dynamics will enhance our ability to understand
those processes shaping high phylogeographic and species endemism, in the
Neotropics and beyond.