Elsevier

Quaternary Science Reviews

Volume 50, 12 September 2012, Pages 14-22
Quaternary Science Reviews

Age, origins and extinctions of the avifauna of Macaronesia: a synthesis of phylogenetic and fossil information

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.07.013Get rights and content

Abstract

Understanding the age, origins and extinction of oceanic island biota has captivated the interest of evolutionary biologists since Darwin and Wallace. Because oceanic islands are discrete entities of small geographical size but with considerable habitat diversity, they provide ideal templates within which to study evolutionary processes. The peripheral North Atlantic islands, collectively referred to as Macaronesia, are considered a hot spot of biodiversity due to the fact that they contain a large proportion of endemic taxa (ca 25%). Recent molecular studies are providing insight into the patterns of colonization and radiation within the extant avifauna, while paleontological studies have described many extinct avian species, sometimes identifying the causes and chronology of extinction. The aim of this review is to develop an understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the macaronesian avifauna, combining information from phylogenetic and paleontological studies. We then compare patterns for Macaronesia with those of other oceanic archipelagos to evaluate to what extent patterns may be generalised across regions. Phylogenetic analyses have confirmed the close relationships between endemic macaronesian avifauna and the closest mainland areas (Europe and Africa), however, in contrast to other archipelagos of a similar age, we show that most extant birds appear to have colonized macaronesian archipelagos relatively recently, within the last four million years, despite some islands being approximately 30 million years old. Fossil records support the idea that higher species richness previously existed, with recent dating on bone collagen of selected extinct species suggesting that their extinction coincided with the arrival of aboriginal people ca 2500 years ago in the Canary Islands, or the arrival of Europeans across all the macaronesian islands in the 14th century. It is plausible that these human mediated extinctions may have selectively acted upon older lineages, but there is little evidence available to evaluate this.

Highlights

► Molecular and paleontological data key to understand evolution in oceanic islands. ► Extant birds colonized macaronesian archipelagos within the last four million years. ► Fossil records support the idea that higher species richness previously existed. ► Extinction data suggests an extinction process mediated by man.

Introduction

Investigating the origin and diversification of oceanic island biotas has been a key focus of biogeography, evolutionary biology and conservation biology (MacArthur and Wilson, 1967, Emerson and Kolm, 2005, Filardi and Moyle, 2005, Savolainen et al., 2006, Steadman, 2006, Grant and Grant, 2008, Ricklefs, 2010a). During the last two decades, the use of molecular markers has provided new insights into the evolutionary histories of a great many taxa, and the resulting conclusions have often challenged biogeographic and evolutionary ideas based on classical taxonomy (e.g. Raxworthy et al., 2002, Jordal et al., 2004, Glor et al., 2005, Macias-Hernandez et al., 2008). Phylogeographic syntheses may provide a framework for a general understanding of colonization and diversification within the biotas of archipelagos with different physical and ecological conditions such as age, latitude, altitude and distance to mainland (Ricklefs, 2010a, Ricklefs, 2010b). The reconstruction of ancestral distributions and hypotheses about the diversification of taxa have typically used data from extant species, as comprehensive paleontological information on a regional scale is often unavailable. However such analyses may result in biased interpretations if now extinct species are a non-random subset of species, and/or are informative with regard to complex ecological interactions and diversification within a community. Multidisciplinary approaches incorporating information from geology, archaeology, palaeontology and genetics could minimize these limitations and potential biases (Crisci et al., 2003).

Recently, taxa of the North Atlantic Macaronesian islands have become a focus for molecular studies of colonization and diversification of oceanic biotas. Many of these studies have focused on groups of organisms with high rates of diversification such as plants, invertebrates and reptiles (Juan et al., 2000, Emerson, 2002, Emerson, 2003, Kim et al., 2008). Macaronesian birds exhibit a significant number of endemic species and subspecies (Stattersfield et al., 1998, Martín and Lorenzo, 2001), but have only more recently become the subject of phylogeographic study. These studies have revealed diverse evolutionary histories within species, or species complexes, including strong genetic differentiation between islands (Pestano et al., 2000, Dietzen et al., 2003, Kvist et al., 2005, Päckert et al., 2006), incipient differentiation and contemporary gene flow (Hille et al., 2003, Illera et al., 2007, Barrientos et al., 2008, Spurgin et al., 2011) and reverse colonization (Illera et al., 2011). However, the extent to which the overall macaronesian avifauna is the result of ancient or recent colonization and diversification events has not yet been addressed. In light of recent phylogenetic analyses of macaronesian terrestrial taxa such as insects and plants, we may expect to find both old and young evolutionary lineages (e.g. Emerson, 2008, Aigoin et al., 2009). Even though the avian radiation in the region is less spectacular than in other archipelagos such as those of the Pacific and Indian Oceans that does not necessarily mean that extant lineages are themselves young. In addition to molecular phylogenetic and phylogeographic data, fossil data may provide complementary insight into the evolutionary history and community composition of the avifauna of a region. Recent radiocarbon dating on bone collagen of extinct taxa is generating more rigorous approximations of species extinction dates and thus allowing us to better infer the causes of such extinctions. Fossil data can also contribute to a broader understanding of historical faunas and community composition, providing indirect inferences about past environments and ecological interactions.

The aim of this review is to develop a general understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the macaronesian avifauna by synthesising information from phylogenetic, phylogeographic and paleontological studies that yield information on colonization, diversification and extinction within this group. We then compare patterns for Macaronesia with those of other oceanic archipelagos to evaluate to what extent patterns may be generalised across regions, but also to identify knowledge gaps that should be the focus of future research.

Section snippets

Macaronesia

The macaronesian region consists at 31 principal volcanic islands in the north eastern Atlantic Ocean with floral and faunal affinities to the African and European mainland (Juan et al., 2000, Gillespie and Clague, 2009). The islands are grouped into five archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde) situated between 39°N 31°W and 15°N 23°W (Fig. 1). The broad range of distances between archipelagos and the mainland (<100 km for the Canary Islands and 1365 km for

Geographic origins

The taxonomic affinities of native bird species suggest that the origin of the extant terrestrial macaronesian avifauna is largely from the closest Palaearctic mainland areas, although the Cape Verde archipelago, due to its much lower latitude and proximity to Africa, contains species related to the semi-arid African mainland region (Hazevoet, 1995, Martín and Lorenzo, 2001, Clarke et al., 2006). Recent phylogenetic analyses have confirmed the close relationships between endemic macaronesian

Patterns and processes

Recent paleontological studies in Madeira and the Canary Islands are now changing perceptions about the diversification, distribution, and composition of terrestrial avian communities on these islands (S-Table 3). Upper Pleistocene-Holocene fossil records reveal endemic species extinctions among bird families such as Procellariidae (shearwaters), Phasianidae (quails), Rallidae (rails), Strigidae (owls), Turdidae (thrushes) and Fringillidae (finches and buntings) (Pieper, 1985, Alcover and

Conclusions

This review indicates that, despite the relatively old (Miocene: ca 5–29 my) age of the majority of the macaronesian islands, the extant avian lineages on these islands appear to have colonized the region relatively recently (less than four my). Fossil records suggest that greater species richness existed in the past, and that the arrival of aboriginal people from North Africa (≈2500 yrs), and then the later colonisation of the islands by Europeans both caused significant extinctions.

Acknowledgements

J.C. Illera was funded by a Spanish postdoctoral fellowship (Ramón y Cajal). Mario Díaz and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments.

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