West Wind Drift revisited : testing for directional dispersal in the Southern Hemisphere using event-based tree fitting

• Main Authors: Sanmartín, Isabel, Wanntorp, Livia, Winkworth, Richard C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing 2007
• Subjects: Antarctic Circumpolar Current; Asymmetric dispersal; Australia; Concerted dispersal; Event-based tree fitting; Gondwana; New Zealand; Southern Hemisphere; Southern South America; West Wind Drift; Antarctic; Pacific; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/166992

Aim Recent studies suggest that if constrained by prevailing wind or ocean currents dispersal may produce predictable, repeated distribution patterns. Dispersal mediated by the West Wind Drift (WWD) and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (AAC) has often been invoked to explain the floristic similarities of Australia, South America and New Zealand. If these systems have been important dispersal vectors then eastward dispersal – from Australia to New Zealand and the western Pacific to South America – is expected to predominate. We investigate whether phylogenies for Southern Hemisphere plant groups provide evidence of historical dispersal asymmetry and more specifically whether inferred asymmetries are consistent with the direction of the WWD/AAC. I.S. is supported by the Swedish Science Research Council (GRANT 621-2003-456). R.C.W. is supported by the Fundac¸a˜o de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sa˜o Paulo (Grant 04/09666-2) Peer reviewed