Data from: Divergence in an obligate mutualism is not explained by divergent climatic factors

Adaptation to divergent environments creates and maintains biological
diversity, but we know little about the importance of different agents of
ecological divergence. Coevolution in obligate mutualisms has been
hypothesized to drive divergence, but this contention has rarely been
tested against alternative ecological explanations. Here, we use a
well-established example of coevolution in an obligate pollination
mutualism, Yucca brevifolia and its two pollinating yucca moths, to test
the hypothesis that divergence in this system is the result of mutualists
adapting to different abiotic environments as opposed to coevolution
between mutualists. We used a combination of principal component analyses
and ecological niche modeling to determine whether varieties of Y.
brevifolia associated with different pollinators specialize on different
environments. Yucca brevifolia occupies a diverse range of climates. When
the two varieties can disperse to similar environments, they occupy
similar habitats.This suggests that the two varieties have not specialized
on distinct habitats. In turn, this suggests that nonclimatic factors,
such as the biotic interaction between Y. brevifolia and its pollinators,
are responsible for evolutionary divergence in this system.