Phylogenetic effects on functional traits and life history strategies of Australian freshwater fish

Understanding the biogeographic and phylogenetic basis to interspecifi c diff erences in species ’ functional traits is a central goal of evolutionary biology and community ecology. We quantify the extent of phylogenetic infl uence on functional traits and life-history strategies of Australian freshwater fi sh to highlight intercontinental diff erences as a result of Australia ’ s unique biogeographic and evolutionary history. We assembled data on life history, morphological and ecological traits from published sources for 194 Australian freshwater species. Interspecifi c variation among species could be described by a specialist – generalist gradient of variation in life-history strategies associated with spawning frequency, fecundity and spawning migration. In general, Australian fi sh showed an affi nity for life-history strategies that maximise fi tness in hydrologically unpredictable environments. We also observed diff erences in trait lability between and within life history, morphological and ecological traits where in general morphological and ecological traits were more labile. Our results showed that life-history strategies are relatively evolutionarily labile and species have potentially evolved or colonised in freshwaters frequently and independently allowing them to maximise population performance in a range of environments. In addition, reproductive guild membership showed strong phylogenetic constraint indicating that evolutionary history is an important component infl uencing the range and distribution of reproductive strategies in extant species assemblages. For Australian freshwater fi sh, biogeographic and phylogenetic history contribute to broad taxonomic diff erences in species functional traits, while fi ner scale ecological processes contribute to interspecifi c diff erences in smaller taxonomic units. Th ese results suggest that the lability or phylogenetic relatedness of diff erent functional traits aff ects their suitability for testing hypothesis surrounding community level responses to environmental change.

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