Charles Darwin noticed the evolutionary impact of geographic barriers when he observed the various sizes and shapes of finches in the Galapagos Islands.
Physical barriers divide habitats and prevent animals from mixing and mating, which accelerates the evolution and emergence of new species.
“Often there are many more unique species on the top of the mountain that can’t be found anywhere else,” said Dr. Andrew Tanentzap of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Science and lead author of the study.
“Although it was previously assumed that the formation of new species is driven by climate, we have found that changes in altitude have a greater impact globally.”
dr. Javier Igea, also of the aforementioned Cambridge department and first author of the paper, adds: “It is surprising how much historical differences in altitude have had on the evolution of the world’s biodiversity.
“That is much more important than traditionally studied variables like temperature. The rate of evolution of species in different parts of the world is closely related to topographic changes over millions of years.
“This work shows an important arena for evolution. From a nature conservation perspective, these are the places we want to protect, especially in light of climate change.
“Although climate change occurs over decades rather than millions of years, our research suggests areas that may harbor species with greater development potential.”
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