Ecophylogenetics is an emerging fusion of ecology, biogeography, and macroevolution that integrates evolutionary history into ecological research through the widespread use of phylogenetic data. This rapidly growing field encourages collaboration across biological disciplines and has opened new theoretical and empirical avenues for understanding community assembly, ecosystem functioning, and responses to environmental change.
The time is ripe to critically assess how successfully phylogenetic approaches have fulfilled these promises. Here, we review how phylogenetic information has been used to better identify species interactions with biotic and abiotic environments, clarify relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and guide conservation and management practices under global change. We evaluate the relevance of phylogenetic information for ecology while highlighting current limitations and future research needs.
Despite substantial progress, a unified framework linking local ecological dynamics with macroevolutionary processes is still lacking. Developing such a framework is essential for interpreting phylogenetic patterns within broader ecological contexts and for advancing ecology as a more integrative and predictive science.
