Fewer chromosomes, more co-occurring species within plant lineages - a likely effect of local survival and colonization.

Families that have few chromosomes, either monoploid or holoploid, succeed in maintaining many species in local communities and across a continent and, as indirect consequence of both, across a region. We suggest evolutionary mechanisms how small chromosome numbers and ploidy levels might decrease rates of local extinction and increase rates of colonization. The genome of a macroevolutionary lineage may ultimately control whether its species can ecologically coexist. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.