Species’ geographic range size is arguably the single most important predictor of vulnerability to extinction and a key metric in ecology. Despite this, patterns of specific variation in range size and their underlying reasons are still poorly understood. For example, hypotheses on how evolutionary history affects range size have scarcely been tested. To address these questions, we focused on Brazil's Atlantic Forest flora, one of the most species‐rich in the world, relatively well‐known and highly threatened. We investigated whether and how lineages’ diversification rate, number of species and age are associated with species’ geographic range size. We estimated the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of each of 13 283 plant species native to the Atlantic Forest region based on over 500 000 unique records. We used phylogenetic least squares and logistic regressions to analyze how the predictors affect the geographic range size. On average, the higher the diversification rate and number of species in the lineage, the smaller the species range size and the higher the proportion of species with vulnerably small range size. Lineage age showed no clear effect on average range size. The results support our expectations that dynamics of diversification and taxonomic richness considerably affect the species range size. Finally, this work reveals poorly known patterns of range size variation and some of the mechanisms driving variation in range size and vulnerability to extinction.

中文翻译：

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大西洋森林植物地理范围内的进化模式

物种的地理范围大小可以说是物种灭绝脆弱性的最重要的预测指标，也是生态学的关键指标。尽管如此，对于范围大小的特定变化模式及其潜在原因仍然知之甚少。例如，关于进化史如何影响范围大小的假设几乎没有得到检验。为了解决这些问题，我们重点研究了巴西的大西洋森林植物区系，该植物群是世界上物种最丰富的物种之一，相对知名并且受到高度威胁。我们调查了谱系的多样化率，物种数量和年龄是否以及如何与物种的地理范围大小相关联。我们基于500,000多个独特记录估算了大西洋森林地区原生的13 283种植物物种中每种植物的发生程度和占用面积。我们使用系统发育最小二乘和逻辑回归分析了预测变量如何影响地理范围大小。平均而言，谱系中物种的多样化率和数量越高，物种范围的大小就越小，而范围很小的物种的比例就越高。血统年龄对平均范围大小没有明显影响。结果支持了我们的期望，即多样化和分类学丰富度的动态会极大地影响物种范围的大小。最后，这项工作揭示了范围大小变化的模式，以及导致范围大小变化和灭绝脆弱性的一些机制，人们对此知之甚少。物种范围的大小越小，范围很小的物种的比例就越高。血统年龄对平均范围大小没有明显影响。结果支持了我们的期望，即多样化和分类学丰富度的动态会极大地影响物种范围的大小。最后，这项工作揭示了范围大小变化的模式，以及导致范围大小变化和灭绝脆弱性的一些机制，人们对此知之甚少。物种范围的大小越小，范围很小的物种的比例就越高。血统年龄对平均范围大小没有明显影响。结果支持了我们的期望，即多样化和分类学丰富度的动态会极大地影响物种范围的大小。最后，这项工作揭示了范围大小变化的模式，以及导致范围大小变化和灭绝脆弱性的一些机制，人们对此知之甚少。