Data from: Dioecy does not consistently accelerate or slow lineage diversification across multiple genera of angiosperms

We gathered detailed species-level data for dozens of genera that contain both dioecious and nondioecious species. We then applied a probabilistic approach that accounts for differential speciation, extinction, and transition rates between states to examine whether there is an association between dioecy and lineage diversification. We found a bimodal distribution, whereby dioecious lineages exhibited higher diversification in certain genera but lower diversification in others.

Additional analyses did not uncover an ecological or life history trait that could explain a context-dependent effect of dioecy on diversification. Furthermore, in-depth simulations of neutral characters demonstrated that such bimodality is also found when simulating neutral characters across the observed trees. Our analyses suggest that – at least for these genera with the currently available data – dioecy neither consistently places a strong brake on diversification nor is a strong driver.

Usage notes

Phylogenetic trees and sexual system classifications Provided are: (1) Trees - a directory with phylogenetic trees for all genera in the study. (2) Sexual_systems - a directory with sexual system assignments for all species. (3) sexual.system.classifications.csv - a file with the classifications of sexual system (per species) into "broad" and "strict" definitions.

Data_from_Sabath_at_al_2015.zip