Functional traits drive speciation in tropical palms through complex interactions between genome size, adaptation and allometry

The importance of functional trait evolution and genome size on plant speciation are well established, but their interactive effects remain untested in a single comparative macroevolutionary framework.

We integrated phylogenetic, trait and genome size data for palms (Arecaceae) – a large pantropical family (>2600 species) with 167-fold variation in trait and 60-fold variation in genome size. We used structural equation modelling to test three key hypotheses: trait evolution promotes speciation (H1: trait flexibility hypothesis), and, speciation and trait evolution rates are constrained by allometry (H2: allometric constraint hypothesis) and genome size (H3: large genome constraint hypothesis).

We detected seven major speciation rate shifts during the ca. 110-million-year history of palms. Tip-derived speciation rates increased with faster evolution in leaves and plant height, supporting H1, whereas correlated evolution between trait evolution rates indirectly influenced speciation, supporting H2. Large genomes decreased plant height and stem diameter evolutionary rates, but increased leaf size evolution and speciation rates, thus partly supporting H3.

Our findings illustrate how the complex interplay between genome size, allometry and trait evolvability affect speciation, emphasizing the importance of holistic approaches in macroevolution. Furthermore, our results point to potential general mechanisms driving speciation rates throughout the plant Tree of Life.