Abstract
The genus <em>Eulophia</em> embraces over 230 species distributed through the tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. In Neotropics it is represented by a sole species – <em>E. alta</em>. The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the difference between ecological niches occupied by American and African populations of this species based on the ecological niche modeling. The similarity between the glacial and present niches occupied by <em>E. alta</em> was calculated and the factors limiting the species occurrence were identified. Areas of seasonal tropical forest, tropical savanna and woodland served as refugia for the studied species during last glacial maximum and they were more widespread in Neotropics than in Africa. No significant niche shift after last glacial maximum was observed. The distribution of <em>E. alta</em> in its whole range is restricted mainly by temperature seasonality. The differences in the niches occupied by African and Neotropical populations of <em>E. alta</em> suggest preglacial disjunction of the species range and independent adaptation of both groups. Despite the significant range disjunction of <em>E. alta</em> the species is characterized by relatively high degree of niche conservatism.
Highlights
The trans-Atlantic range disjunction is observed within about 110 angiosperm genera [1]
The aim of the presented study was to evaluate the difference between ecological niches occupied by American and African populations of this species based on the ecological niche modeling
Areas of seasonal tropical forest, tropical savanna and woodland served as refugia for the studied species during last glacial maximum and they were more widespread in Neotropics than in Africa
Summary
The trans-Atlantic range disjunction is observed within about 110 angiosperm genera [1]. The niche conservatism of numerous organisms was recently intensively studied using ecological niche modeling (ENM) methods [5,6,7], but so far this analysis was not apply to evaluate niche variation of species exhibiting trans-Atlantic disjunction. The degree of niche conservatism varies among groups of species (small-ranged and specialist [6]) and it is related to the evolutionary history of each taxon [8]. While some authors [9] considered evolutionary and biogeographic patterns of species diversity as completely separated processes, the concept of niche conservatism offers a bridge between them [10,11,12,13]. Studies on ecological niche variation are important to recognize fundamental distribution factors and evolutionary models of species characterized by the disjunctive
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