Climatic niche convergence through space and time for a potential archaeophyte (Acacia caven) in South America

Based on the niche conservatism hypothesis, i.e. the idea that niches remain unchanged over space and time, climatic niche modelling (CNM) is a useful tool for predicting the spread of introduced taxa. Recent advances have extended such predictions deeper in time for plant species dispersed by humans before the modern era. The latest CNMs successfully evaluate niche differentiation and estimate potential source areas for intriguing taxa such as archaeophytes (i.e., species introduced before 1492 AD). Here, we performed CNMs for Acacia caven, a common Fabaceae tree in South America, considered an archaeophyte west of the Andes, in Central Chile. Accounting for the infraspecific delimitation of the species, our results showed that even when climates are different, climatic spaces used by the species overlap largely between the eastern and western ranges. Despite slight variation, results were consistent when considering one, two, or even three-environmental dimensions, and in accordance with the niche conservatism hypothesis. Specific distribution models calibrated for each region (east vs west) and projected to the past, indicate a common area of occupancy available in southern Bolivia—northwest Argentina since the late Pleistocene, which could have acted as a source-area, and this signal becomes stronger through the Holocene. Then, in accordance with a taxon introduced in the past, and comparing regional vs continental distribution models calibrated at the infraspecific or species level, the western populations showed their spread status to be mostly in equilibrium with the environment. Our study thus indicates how niche and species distribution models are useful to improve our knowledge related to taxa introduced before the modern era.