Controls on diatom biogeography in the ocean

TY - JOUR

T1 - Controls on diatom biogeography in the ocean

AU - Cermeño, Pedro

AU - Falkowski, Paul G.

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - The extent to which the spatial distribution of marine planktonic microbes is controlled by local environmental selection or dispersal is poorly understood. Our ability to separate the effects of these two biogeographic controls is limited by the enormous environmental variability both in space and through time. To circumvent this limitation, we analyzed fossil diatom assemblages over the past ̃1.5 million years from the world oceans and show that these eukaryotic microbes are not limited by dispersal. The lack of dispersal limitation in marine diatoms suggests that the biodiversity at the microbial level fundamentally differs from that of macroscopic animals and plants for which geographic isolation is a common component of speciation.

AB - The extent to which the spatial distribution of marine planktonic microbes is controlled by local environmental selection or dispersal is poorly understood. Our ability to separate the effects of these two biogeographic controls is limited by the enormous environmental variability both in space and through time. To circumvent this limitation, we analyzed fossil diatom assemblages over the past ̃1.5 million years from the world oceans and show that these eukaryotic microbes are not limited by dispersal. The lack of dispersal limitation in marine diatoms suggests that the biodiversity at the microbial level fundamentally differs from that of macroscopic animals and plants for which geographic isolation is a common component of speciation.

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U2 - 10.1126/science.1174159

DO - 10.1126/science.1174159

M3 - Article

C2 - 19762642

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 325

SP - 1539

EP - 1541

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 5947

ER -