Testing For Phylogenetic Signal Research Articles

Functional similarity affects similarity in partner composition in flea-mammal networks

Functional signal in an interaction network is a phenomenon in which species resembling each other in their traits interact with similar partners. We tested the functional signal concept in realm-specific and regional flea-host networks from four biogeographic realms and asked whether the species composition of (a) host spectra and (b) flea assemblages is similar between functionally similar flea and host species, respectively. Analogously to testing for phylogenetic signal, we applied Mantel tests to investigate the correlation between flea or host functional distances calculated from functional dendrograms and dissimilarities in sets of interacting partners. In all realm-specific networks, functionally similar fleas tended to exploit similar hosts often belonging to the same genus, whereas functionally similar hosts tended to harbour similar fleas, again often belonging to the same genus. The strength of realm-specific functional signals and the frequency of detecting a significant functional signal in the regional networks differed between realms. The frequency of detecting a significant functional signal in the regional networks correlated positively with the network size for fleas and with the number of hosts in a network for hosts. A functional signal in the regional networks was more frequently found for hosts than for fleas. We discuss the mechanisms behind the functional signal in both fleas and their hosts, relate geographic functional signal patterns to the historic biogeography of fleas and conclude that functional signals in the species composition of host spectra for fleas and of flea assemblages for hosts result from the interplay of evolutionary and ecological processes.

Morphological and physiological traits of the respiratory system in Iguana iguana and other non-avian reptiles

Functional morphology considers form and function to be intrinsically related. To understand organismal functions, a detailed knowledge of morphological and physiological traits is necessary. Regarding the respiratory system, the combined knowledge about pulmonary morphology and respiratory physiology is fundamental to understand how animals exchange gases and regulate critical functions to sustain metabolic activity. In the present study, the paucicameral lungs of Iguana iguana were analyzed morphometrically through stereological analysis using light and transmission electron images and compared with unicameral and multicameral lungs of six other non-avian reptiles. The morphological data were combined with physiological information to perform a principal component analysis (PCA) and phylogenetic tests of the relationship of the respiratory system. Iguana iguana, Lacerta viridis, and Salvator merianae presented similar pulmonary morphologies and physiologies when compared to Varanus examthematicus, Gekko gecko, Trachemys scripta, and Crocodylus niloticus. The former species showed an elevated respiratory surface area (%AR), a high diffusion capacity, a low volume of total parenchyma (VP), a low percentage of parenchyma concerning the lung volume (VL), and a higher surface/volume ratio of the parenchyma (SAR/VP), with high respiratory frequency (fR) and consequently total ventilation. The total parenchymal surface area (SA), effective parenchymal surface-to-volume ratio (SAR/VP), respiratory surface area (SAR), and anatomical diffusion factor (ADF) showed a phylogenetic signal, evidence that the morphological traits are more strongly correlated with the species' phylogeny than the physiological traits. In sum, our results indicated that the pulmonary morphology is intrinsically related to physiological traits of the respiratory system. Furthermore, phylogenetic signal tests also indicate that morphological traits are more likely to be evolutionary conserved than physiological traits, suggesting that evolutive physiological adaptations in the respiratory system could happen faster than morphological changes.

Do closely related species interact with similar partners? Testing for phylogenetic signal in bipartite interaction networks

Whether interactions between species are conserved on evolutionary time-scales has spurred the development of both correlative and process-based approaches for testing phylogenetic signal in interspecific interactions: do closely related species interact with similar partners? Here we use simulations to test the statistical performances of the two approaches that are the most widely used in the field: Mantel tests and the Phylogenetic Bipartite Linear Model (PBLM). Mantel tests investigate the correlation between phylogenetic distances and dissimilarities in sets of interacting partners, while PBLM is a process-based approach that relies on strong assumptions about how interactions evolve. We find that PBLM often detects a phylogenetic signal when it should not. Simple Mantel tests instead have infrequent false positives and moderate statistical power; however, they often artifactually detect that closely related species interact with dissimilar partners. Partial Mantel tests, which are used to partial out the phylogenetic signal in the number of partners, actually fail at correcting for this confounding effect, and we instead recommend evaluating the significance of Mantel tests with network permutations constraining the number of partners. We also explore the ability of simple Mantel tests to analyze clade- specific phylogenetic signals. We provide general guidelines and an application on an interaction network between orchids and mycorrhizal fungi.

Testing for phylogenetic signal in species interaction networks

A recommendation of: Benoît Perez-Lamarque, Odile Maliet, Benoît Pichon, Marc-André Selosse, Florent Martos, Hélène Morlon Do closely related species interact with similar partners? Testing for phylogenetic signal in bipartite interaction networks https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.30.458192

Evolutionary convergence in body shape obscures taxonomic diversity in species of the African Labeo forskalii group: Case study of L. parvus Boulenger 1902 and L. ogunensis Boulenger 1910.

Labeo is the third most diverse genus of African cyprinids and is widely distributed across the continent. Labeo parvus, a small species originally described from the Congo basin, has been considered the only species of the L. forskalii group distributed across five African ichthyofaunal provinces (Nilo-Sudan, Congo, Cuanza, and Upper and Lower Guinea). However, morphological similarity between L. parvus and numerous congeners remains a central cause of taxonomic confusion within the genus. Here we employed a phylogenetic comparative approach to assess phenotypic convergence among species of the L. forskalii group, investigate the taxonomic status of L. parvus sensu lato (sl) in west Africa, and reevaluate the composition and distribution of L. parvus sensu stricto (ss). Our phylogenetic analysis provides no support for a sister relationship between L. parvus ss and any of the west African Labeo parvus-like species. Geometric morphometric and molecular phylogenetic data indicate that L. parvus ss is a Congo basin endemic, and seemingly ecologically equivalent species found in west Africa are L. ogunensis, L. obscurus and other undescribed or previously synonymized species. We discuss our findings in terms of convergent evolution using phylomorphospace and tests for phylogenetic signal.

Geography and climate drive the distribution and diversification of the cosmopolitan cyanobacterium Microcoleus (Oscillatoriales, Cyanobacteria)

ABSTRACT Despite the extensive diversity of bacteria and their importance to the fundamental functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, their distribution patterns are still not fully known. To fill the gap and further understand the biogeographic patterns in bacteria, we investigated the phylogeographic structure and the underlying drivers of diversification among populations of the cyanobacterium Microcoleus spp. The phylogenetic history was reconstructed using 16S rRNA genes and the 16S–23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of 495 Microcoleus spp. isolates. Ancestral area and state reconstruction was employed to investigate the distributional and ecological patterns within Microcoleus. Both isolation by distance and isolation by environment were tested with distance matrices analysis. The phylogenetic signal tests were conducted in order to assess the influence of the climatic preferences on the diversification of Microcoleus isolates. The distribution and phylogenetic diversification of Microcoleus are driven by both isolation by distance and environment, leading to at least 13 distinct lineages that could represent novel cyanobacterial species. Microcoleus spp. exhibited a distinct phylogeographic structure within the respective lineages. The ancestral area and state reconstruction revealed that Microcoleus most likely arose in Europe in terrestrial habitats. The phylogenetic signal showed that the phylogeny significantly affects the climatic preferences of Microcoleus strains. Geographic distance and contemporary climatic conditions play significant roles in shaping the distribution and diversification of Microcoleus. The observed patterns of distribution may shift in the future due to the impact of climate change. Highlights Microcoleus exhibited distinct phylogeographic structure within the respective lineages. Geographic and environmental heterogeneity affect Microcoleus distribution and diversification. Genetically distinct lineages coexist at the same site.

Testing for phylogenetic signal in claws suggests great influence of ecology on Caribbean intertidal arthropods (Acari, Oribatida)

Claws are common biological attachment devices that can be found in a wide variety of animal groups. Their curvature and size are supposed to be parameters related to ecological aspects. Mites, known as very small arthropods, occupy a wide range of ecological niches and are a perfect model system to investigate correlations of claw morphology with ecology. There is only one study regarding this question in littoral mites but the phylogenetic impact, which plays an important role in the evolution of morphological traits, was not tested. We investigated claw shapes of different Caribbean populations of five species showing different substrate/habitat preferences. We used geometric morphometrics to quantify claw shape and tested for phylogenetic signal within this morphological trait. Even in closely related populations, we found clear claw shapes for hard versus soft substrate, confirming previous findings. Surprisingly, we found no phylogenetic signal within the trait, which demonstrates that ecology (different surfaces and substrates) has acted as one of the primary selective forces in the diversification of claw shapes. Considering that the basic claw design may be the same in the majority of arthropods, our results have important implications for further investigations of claw morphology and its ecological relevance within this phylum.

Phylogenetic signal in phonotactics

Abstract Phylogenetic methods have broad potential in linguistics beyond tree inference. Here, we show how a phylogenetic approach opens the possibility of gaining historical insights from entirely new kinds of linguistic data – in this instance, statistical phonotactics. We extract phonotactic data from 112 Pama-Nyungan vocabularies and apply tests for phylogenetic signal, quantifying the degree to which the data reflect phylogenetic history. We test three datasets: (1) binary variables recording the presence or absence of biphones (two-segment sequences) in a lexicon (2) frequencies of transitions between segments, and (3) frequencies of transitions between natural sound classes. Australian languages have been characterized as having a high degree of phonotactic homogeneity. Nevertheless, we detect phylogenetic signal in all datasets. Phylogenetic signal is greater in finer-grained frequency data than in binary data, and greatest in natural-class-based data. These results demonstrate the viability of employing a new source of readily extractable data in historical and comparative linguistics.

Avian roadkills occur regardless of bird evolutionary uniqueness across Europe

Through an extensive literature review and using a large dataset collected from several European studies, we explored the frequency of occurrence of road bird casualties. First, we modelled the inter-specific variation in roadkill’ frequency across the avian phylogeny, testing for phylogenetic signal. Then, we explored the association between frequency of roadkill and some avian traits and evolutionary distinctiveness score of species.The rate of roadkill did not show a phylogenetic signal, indicating that the incidence of avian casualties is independent of the phylogenetic position of species. The incidence of roadkill was unrelated to the evolutionary distinctiveness, distribution range size, type of diet, or period of activity of species, but was slightly negatively associated with the species’ body mass. This result implies that roadkill is a form of anthropogenic mortality widely generalized concerning avian phylogeny. We highlight that roadkill mitigation measures could benefit from incorporating peculiarities of local or regional avifauna.

Convergent morphological responses to loss of flight in rails (Aves: Rallidae).

The physiological demands of flight exert strong selection pressure on avian morphology and so it is to be expected that the evolutionary loss of flight capacity would involve profound changes in traits. Here, we investigate morphological consequences of flightlessness in a bird family where the condition has evolved repeatedly. The Rallidae include more than 130 recognized species of which over 30 are flightless. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic data were used here to compare species with and without the ability to fly in order to determine major phenotypic effects of the transition from flighted to flightless. We find statistical support for similar morphological response among unrelated flightless lineages, characterized by a shift in energy allocation from the forelimbs to the hindlimbs. Indeed, flightless birds exhibit smaller sterna and wings than flighted taxa in the same family along with wider pelves and more robust femora. Phylogenetic signal tests demonstrate that those differences are independent of phylogeny and instead demonstrate convergent morphological adaptation associated with a walking ecology. We found too that morphological variation was greater among flightless rails than flighted ones, suggesting that relaxation of physiological demands during the transition to flightlessness frees morphological traits to evolve in response to more varied ecological opportunities.

Behavioral and environmental contributions to drosophilid social networks

Animals interact with each other in species-specific reproducible patterns. These patterns of organization are captured by social network analysis, and social interaction networks (SINs) have been described for a wide variety of species including fish, insects, birds, and mammals. The aim of this study is to understand the evolution of social organization in Drosophila Using a comparative ecological, phylogenetic, and behavioral approach, the different properties of SINs formed by 20 drosophilids were compared. We investigate whether drosophilid network structures arise from common ancestry, a response to the species' past climate, other social behaviors, or a combination of these factors. This study shows that differences in past climate predicted the species' current SIN properties. The drosophilid phylogeny offered no value to predicting species' differences in SINs through phylogenetic signal tests. This suggests that group-level social behaviors in drosophilid species are shaped by divergent climates. However, we find that the social distance at which flies interact correlated with the drosophilid phylogeny, indicating that behavioral elements of SINs have remained largely unchanged in their evolutionary history. We find a significant correlation of leg length to social distance, outlining the interdependence of anatomy and complex social structures. Although SINs display a complex evolutionary relationship across drosophilids, this study suggests that the ecology, and not common ancestry, contributes to diversity in social structure in Drosophila.

Genome size and endopolyploidy evolution across the moss phylogeny.

Compared with other plant lineages, bryophytes have very small genomes with little variation across species, and high levels of endopolyploid nuclei. This study is the first analysis of moss genome evolution over a broad taxonomic sampling using phylogenetic comparative methods. We aim to determine whether genome size evolution is unidirectional as well as examine whether genome size and endopolyploidy are correlated in mosses. Genome size and endoreduplication index (EI) estimates were newly generated using flow cytometry from moss samples collected in Canada. Phylogenetic relationships between moss species were reconstructed using GenBank sequence data and maximum likelihood methods. Additional 1C-values were compiled from the literature and genome size and EI were mapped onto the phylogeny to reconstruct ancestral character states, test for phylogenetic signal and perform phylogenetic independent contrasts. Genome size and EI were obtained for over 50 moss taxa. New genome size estimates are reported for 33 moss species and new EIs are reported for 20 species. In combination with data from the literature, genome sizes were mapped onto a phylogeny for 173 moss species with this analysis, indicating that genome size evolution in mosses does not appear to be unidirectional. Significant phylogenetic signal was detected for genome size when evaluated across the phylogeny, whereas phylogenetic signal was not detected for EI. Genome size and EI were not found to be significantly correlated when using phylogenetically corrected values. Significant phylogenetic signal indicates closely related mosses have more similar genome sizes and EI values. This study supports that DNA content in mosses is defined by small genomes that are highly endopolyploid, suggesting strong selective pressure to maintain these features. Further research is needed to understand the functional significance of DNA content evolution in mosses.

Is it climate or chemistry? Soil fungal communities respond to soil nutrients in a multi‐year high‐resolution analysis

AbstractPredicting potential responses of soil fungal communities and fungal diversity to environmental change is limited by relatively few long‐term data sets, despite the important role fungi play in ecosystem processes. In this study, we examined the relative importance of environmental factors (weather or climate factors and chemical factors) on fungal communities over a period of five years. We examined fungal communities in an old‐growth beech‐maple forest in northeastern Ohio, located within the snow belt of Lake Erie, which receives an average of 287 cm of snowfall. Soil was collected every month from long‐term plots and divided into different soil depths; a total of 1080 samples were collected and used for fungal community and chemical analysis. We used DNA fragment analysis methods to examine fungal community response to environmental factors, and used next‐generation sequencing to examine specific responses of fungal species and quantify diversity in forest soil. Tests for phylogenetic signal were used to explore whether fungal responses are similar among close relatives or divergent within clades. Fungal communities responded significantly to chemical factors such as soil phosphorus but responded weakly to climate factors such as soil temperature, suggesting that fungal community composition reflects temporal variation in microsite environmental conditions. Sequencing revealed high degrees of fungal species richness, with an average of 384 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) within each soil core and more than 1000 OTUs within our study site. Fungal taxa associated with phosphorus availability and soil moisture were also distributed broadly across fungal clades (e.g., Basidiomycota, Ascomycota). Our study suggests that microsite chemical factors (e.g., soil moisture, P availability) correlate more strongly with fungal community variation than climate factors (e.g., soil temperature). In addition, environmental responses were not conserved among close relatives, suggesting that relatedness may not be sufficient to predict potential responses to these factors.

Do traits and phylogeny support congruent community diversity patterns and assembly inferences?

Abstract It is now commonplace in community ecology to assess patterns of phylogenetic or functional diversity in order to inform our understanding of the assembly mechanisms that structure communities. While both phylogenetic and functional approaches have been used in conceptually similar ways, it is not clear if they both in fact reveal similar community diversity patterns or support similar inferences. We review studies that use both measures to determine the degree to which they support congruent patterns and inferences about communities. We performed a literature review with 188 analyses from 79 published papers that compared some facet of phylogenetic (PD) and functional diversity (FD) in community ecology. These studies generally report four main cases in which phylogenetic and functional information are used together in community analyses, to determine if: (a) there were phylogenetic signals in the measured traits in communities; (b) PD and FD were correlated with one another; (c) standardized PD and FD measures similarly revealed patterns of community over‐ or under‐dispersion; and (d) PD and FD were both related to other explanatory variables (e.g. elevation) similarly. We found that the vast majority of studies found both strong phylogenetic signals in their traits and positive correlations of PD and FD measures across sites. However, and surprisingly, we found substantial incongruencies for the other tests. Phylogenetic and functional dispersion patterns were congruent only about half the time. Specifically, when communities were phylogenetically over‐dispersed, these same communities were more likely to be functionally under‐dispersed. Similarly, we found that phylogenetic and functional relationships with independent predictors were incongruent in about half of the analyses. Synthesis. Phylogenetic signal tests and PD–FD correlations appear to strongly support the congruence between traits and phylogeny. It is surprising that strong phylogenetic signals appeared so ubiquitous given that ecological studies often analyse phylogenetically incomplete sets of species that have undergone ecological sorting. Despite the largely congruent findings based on phylogenetic signal tests and PD‐FD correlations, we found substantial incongruencies when researchers assessed either dispersion patterns or relationships with independent predictors. We discuss a number of potential ecological, evolutionary and methodological reasons for these incongruencies. Phylogenetic and functional information might reflect species ecological differences unequally with phylogenies better reflecting multivariate conserved elements of ecological similarity, and single traits better able to capture recent divergence, and both elements influence ecological patterns.

Breaking the rules: Phylogeny, not life history, explains dental eruption sequence in primates.

Although a great deal is known about the biology of tooth development and eruption, there remains disagreement about the factors driving the evolution of dental eruption sequence. We assessed postcanine eruption sequence across a large sample of primates to test two hypotheses: (1) Dental eruption sequence is significantly correlated with life history and body size variables that capture postnatal growth and longevity (Schultz's Rule), and (2) Dental eruption sequence is conserved phylogenetically. We assessed postcanine dental eruption sequence for 194 individuals representing 21 primate genera spanning eight families. With the inclusion of an additional 29 primate genera from the literature, this is the most comprehensive report on dental eruption sequence in primates to date. We used a series of phylogenetic analyses to statistically compare dental eruption sequence to life history and body size and test for phylogenetic signal in these traits. Dental eruption sequence is conserved phylogenetically in primates, and body and brain size are both significantly associated with dental eruption sequence. Ancestral state reconstruction supports the hypothesis that the third molar erupted before one or more of the premolars in the ancestor of primates and derived clades within primates evolved an eruption sequence in which the third molar erupts after the premolars. Schultz's Rule, as it is currently written and applied, is not supported by this extended data set. Our results demonstrate that dental eruption sequence is a far better predictor of phylogeny and will likely prove useful in phylogenetic hypotheses about relationships between extinct and extant mammalian taxa. The evolution of dental eruption sequence is likely driven by factors that significantly influence body size and mandibular symphyseal fusion.

Phylogenetic distribution of shell colour in Bivalvia (Mollusca)

In order to learn more about the evolution of shell colour in molluscs, 20 characters related to shell colour were recorded for 81 bivalve clades using the entire collection of dry shells at the Natural History Museum in London (> 44000 lots) and plotted onto a published phylogeny. Statistical tests for phylogenetic signal show that coloured shells are not distributed evenly across the class. The phylogenetic distribution of colour is statistically significant, as are the distributions of individual shell and periostracal colours. Blue and green shells are rare, with non-iridescent blue and green coloration occurring on the outer side of the valve more commonly in the periostracum than in the shell matrix and on the inside of valves in species that produce proteinaceous sheets overlying calcareous shell. These findings suggest that these colours in bivalves are attributable to pigments that are more easily incorporated into organic material than into calcareous shell. Ancestral state reconstructions show that the ancestral bivalves likely had a coloured shell. Although similar colours can arise from different pigments or from structural elements, the broad-scale phylogenetic distribution of colour in Bivalvia, along with the co-occurrence of ‘sets’ of colours, probably reflects, in part, the distribution of classes of pigments. This confirms the idea that the major classes of pigments found in molluscan shells are evolutionarily ancient and continue to contribute to shell coloration, despite recent genomic evidence suggesting that protein moieties associated with pigments might be evolutionarily diverse.

-Comparative spigot ontogeny across the spider tree of life.

Spiders are well known for their silk and its varying use across taxa. Very few studies have examined the silk spigot ontogeny of the entire spinning field of a spider. Historically the spider phylogeny was based on morphological data and behavioral data associated with silk. Recent phylogenomics studies have shifted major paradigms in our understanding of silk use evolution, reordering phylogenetic relationships that were once thought to be monophyletic. Considering this, we explored spigot ontogeny in 22 species, including Dolomedes tenebrosus and Hogna carolinensis, reported here for the first time. This is the first study of its kind and the first to incorporate the Araneae Tree of Life. After rigorous testing for phylogenetic signal and model fit, we performed 60 phylogenetic generalized least squares analyses on adult female and second instar spigot morphology. Six analyses had significant correlation coefficients, suggesting that instar, strategy, and spigot variety are good predictors of spigot number in spiders, after correcting for bias of shared evolutionary history. We performed ancestral character estimation of singular, fiber producing spigots on the posterior lateral spinneret whose potential homology has long been debated. We found that the ancestral root of our phylogram of 22 species, with the addition of five additional cribellate and ecribellate lineages, was more likely to have either none or a modified spigot rather than a pseudoflagelliform gland spigot or a flagelliform spigot. This spigot ontogeny approach is novel and we can build on our efforts from this study by growing the dataset to include deeper taxon sampling and working towards the capability to incorporate full ontogeny in the analysis.

Is induction ability of seed germination of Phelipanche ramosa phylogenetically structured among hosts? A case study on Fabaceae species.

Phelipanche ramosa is a major root-holoparasitic damaging weed characterized by a broad host range, including numerous Fabaceae species. In France, the agricultural threat posed by P. ramosa has increased over two decades due to the appearance of a genetically differentiated pathovar presenting a clear host specificity for oilseed rape. The new pathovar has led to a massive expansion of P. ramosa in oilseed rape fields. The germination rate of P. ramosa seeds is currently known to vary among P. ramosa pathovars and host species. However, only a few studies have investigated whether phylogenetic relatedness among potential host species is a predictor of the ability of these species to induce the seed germination of parasitic weeds by testing for phylogenetic signal. We focused on a set of 12 Fabaceae species and we assessed the rate of induction of seed germination by these species for two pathovars based on in vitro co-cultivation experiments. All Fabaceae species tested induced the germination of P. ramosa seeds. The germination rate of P. ramosa seeds varied between Fabaceae species and tribes studied, while pathovars appeared non-influential. Considering oilseed rape as a reference species, we also highlighted a significant phylogenetic signal. Phylogenetically related species therefore showed more similar rates of induction of seed germination than species drawn at random from a phylogenetic tree. In in vitro conditions, only Lotus corniculatus induced a significantly higher germination rate than oilseed rape, and could potentially be used as a catch crop after confirmation of these results under field conditions.

Floral scent and pollinators of Ceropegia trap flowers

Ceropegia L. (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae) comprises more than 200 species, all characterized by complex pitfall flowers. The deceptive flowers are myiophilous and pollinated predominantly by small flies from different families. It has been suggested that floral scent cues, that mimic food sources or oviposition sites, play an important role for attraction of target fly pollinators, and, together with morphological flower traits, explain the high functional specialization in terms of pollination by specific taxa. However, apart from two Ceropegia species, the floral scent composition and the mimicry strategies in this genus are unexplored. We tested for associations between floral scent and insect visitor and pollinator assemblages of 14 Ceropegia species. We also used nrDNA and chloroplast DNA markers to calculate a Maximum Likelihood tree and test for phylogenetic signal in scent chemistry and flower visitors/pollinators. The observed pollinators belonged to eight fly families, at least 18 genera, and 33 morphospecies, but each Ceropegia species was typically associated with only one or two pollinating fly families or genera. We detected a total of 317 floral volatiles, including aliphatic and aromatic components, terpenes, and various unknowns. Both flower visitor and pollinator patterns did not show an overall association with floral scent chemistry. There was phylogenetic signal in flower visiting fly families and fly pollinator assemblages, but not in flower visiting fly morphospecies and overall scent chemistry. We discuss that despite the not existing correlation between pollinator and scent patterns the highly specific pollination system in Ceropegia will be explained mainly by floral scent chemistry.

A global test for phylogenetic signal in shifts in flowering time under climate change

Summary Shifts in the timing of flowering are a conspicuous biological signal of climate change. These shifts have been documented across the globe for diverse communities. Although many species are flowering earlier, others have exhibited no shifts or delays in flowering. How species respond phenologically will shape interactions both with other community members and with the abiotic environment, altering fitness, abundance and ultimately persistence. To understand if variability in phenological response is influenced by evolutionary history, we tested for phylogenetic signal in shifts in flowering onset for 13 communities representing 116 families across the Northern Hemisphere. We compared the fit of models of neutral evolution (Brownian Motion) with models that incorporate selection (Ornstein–Uhlenbeck). We found significant signal in whether species had shifted and the magnitude of response, with both traits conforming to an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model of trait evolution. Synthesis. These results show there is global phylogenetic signal in the direction and magnitude of shifts in flowering onset and indicate selection has shaped flowering time responses of related species under climate change; thus, environmentally determined optima may constrain whether and to what degree species respond phenologically to climate change. Our findings further demonstrate the value of testing for phylogenetic signal across multiple communities and comparing multiple models of trait evolution.