Meeting Abstract

24.1  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Speciation, in the sea? DAWSON, MN; University of California, Merced mdawson@ucmerced.edu

The fluid mechanics of marine and terrestrial systems are surprisingly similar at many spatial and temporal scales. Not surprisingly, the dispersal of organisms that float, swim, or fly is influenced by the fluid environments of air and seawater. Nonetheless, it has been argued repeatedly that the geography of speciation differs fundamentally between marine and terrestrial taxa. Might this view emanate from qualitative contrasts between the pelagic ocean and terrestrial land conflated by anthropocentric perception of within- and between-realm variation? Commonalities at the largest and smallest biogeographic scales delimit the geographic arrangements that can possibly characterize speciation in the remaining majority of species, whether they live in freshwater, seawater, or air. The geographies of speciation may differ statistically, but not fundamentally, between realms. Comparing the geography of evolution in diverse species from a biophysical perspective is an essential next-step for quantifying precisely how marine and terrestrial (and freshwater) systems differ, within and between realms, and is an important yet under-employed enterprise.