Data from: Using molecular phylogenies in island biogeography: it's about time

Island biogeography aims at inferring the processes that govern the assembly of communities in space and time. Molecular phylogenies can tell us about the timings of island colonisations and diversification, but have rarely been used for the estimation of colonisation, speciation and extinction rates on islands. In this study we illustrate the effects of including phylogenetic information with the Galápagos avifauna. We find that by including colonisation times we obtain much more precise and accurate parameter estimates than if we rely solely on species richness and endemicity status. Inclusion of branching times improves estimates even further. As molecular phylogenies become increasingly available, we urge biogeographers to start using more of the information they contain.

岛屿生物地理学（Island biogeography）旨在揭示支配群落在时空维度上组装过程的关键机制。分子系统发育（Molecular phylogenies）可为岛屿定殖与物种分化的时间节点提供相关信息，但极少被用于估算岛屿生境中的定殖、物种形成及灭绝速率。本研究以加拉帕戈斯鸟类区系（Galápagos avifauna）为例，阐释纳入系统发育信息所带来的影响。研究发现，相较于仅依托物种丰富度与特有性状态的分析，纳入定殖时间后可获得精度与准确度均显著提升的参数估计结果；若进一步纳入分支时间信息，参数估计效果还能得到进一步改善。随着分子系统发育数据的可获取性不断提升，我们呼吁生物地理学者更多地利用其中蕴含的信息。