Data from: Recent extinctions disturb path to equilibrium diversity in Caribbean bats

Islands are ideal systems to reconstruct changes in biodiversity and reveal the influence of humans on natural communities. While theory predicts biodiversity on islands tends towards equilibrium, the recent extinction of large proportions of island biotas complicates testing this model. The well-preserved subfossil record of Caribbean bats provides a rare opportunity to model diversity dynamics in an insular community. Here we reconstruct the diversity trajectory in noctilionoid bats of the Greater Antilles by applying a dynamic model of colonisation, extinction and speciation to phylogenetic and paleontological data. We show species richness asymptotes to an equilibrium value, demonstrating natural equilibrium dynamics across an entire community. However, recent extinctions have wiped out nearly a third of island lineages, dragging diversity away from equilibrium. Using a metric to measure island biodiversity loss, we estimate it will take at least eight million years to regain pre-human diversity levels. Our integrative approach reveals how anthropogenic extinctions can drastically alter the natural trajectory of biological communities.岛屿是重建生物多样性变化、揭示人类对自然群落影响的理想研究系统。尽管理论预测岛屿生物多样性会趋向平衡，但近期岛域生物类群的大规模灭绝使得该模型的验证变得复杂。保存完好的加勒比蝙蝠亚化石（subfossil）记录，为探究岛屿群落的多样性动态提供了难得的契机。本研究通过对系统发育与古生物数据应用定殖、灭绝与物种形成的动态模型，重建了大安的列斯群岛夜凹脸蝠总科蝙蝠（noctilionoid bats）的多样性演化轨迹。研究结果显示，物种丰富度会趋近于平衡值，证实了整个自然群落的平衡动态。然而，近期的灭绝事件已清除了近三分之一的岛屿支系，使生物多样性偏离平衡状态。通过采用一种衡量岛屿生物多样性丧失的指标，我们估算恢复至人类活动前的多样性水平至少需要800万年。本整合研究方法揭示了人为灭绝如何能够大幅改变生物群落的自然演化轨迹。