Cao, Ke
Condit, Richard
Mi, Xiangcheng
Chen, Lei
Xu, Wubing
Burslem, David F. R. P.
Cai, Chunrong
Cao, Min
Chang, Li-Wan
Chu, Chengjin
Du, Hu
Ediriweera, Sisira
Gunatilleke, C. S. V.
Gunatilleke, I. U. A. N.
Hao, Zhanqing
Li, Jinbo
Jin, Guangze
Li, Buhang
Liu, Yankun
Li, Yide
O'Brien, Michael J.
Qiao, Xiujuan
Ni, Hongwei
Shen, Guochun
Wang, Xihua
Tian, Songyan
Yang, Libing
Xu, Han
Xu, Yaozhan
Yap, Sandra L.
Ye, Wanhui
Lian, Juyu
Yu, Mingjian
Chang-Yang, Chia-Hao
Su, Sheng-Hsin
Guo, Yili
Zeng, Fuping
Li, Xiankun
Sun, I-Fang
Zhu, Li
Zhu, Daoguang
Ma, Keping
Svenning, Jens-Christian
2021-04-23
<p>The decline in species richness at higher latitudes is among the most fundamental patterns in ecology. Whether changes in species composition across space (beta-diversity) contribute to this gradient of overall local species richness (gamma diversity) remains hotly debated. Previous studies that failed to resolve the issue suffered from a well-known tendency for small samples in areas with high gamma-diversity to have inflated measures of beta-diversity. We provide here a novel analytical test, using beta-diversity metrics that correct the gamma-diversity and sampling bias, to compare beta-diversity and species-packing across a latitudinal gradient in tree species richness of 21 large forest plots along a wide environmental gradient in East Asia. We demonstrate that after accounting for topography and correcting the gamma-diversity bias, tropical forests still have higher beta-diversity than temperate analogs. This suggests that local beta-diversity contributes to the latitudinal species richness gradient as a component of gamma-diversity. Moreover, niche specialization and niche marginality (a measure of niche spacing along a habitat gradient) also increases towards the equator, after removing the effect of topographic heterogeneity. This supports the hypothesis of tighter species packing and larger niche space in tropical forests while demonstrating the importance of local processes in controlling beta-diversity.The decline in species richness at higher latitudes is among the most fundamental patterns in ecology. Whether changes in species composition across space (beta-diversity) contribute to this gradient of overall local species richness (gamma diversity) remains hotly debated. Previous studies that failed to resolve the issue suffered from a well-known tendency for small samples in areas with high gamma-diversity to have inflated measures of beta-diversity. We provide here a novel analytical test, using beta-diversity metrics that correct the gamma-diversity and sampling bias, to compare beta-diversity and species-packing across a latitudinal gradient in tree species richness of 21 large forest plots along a wide environmental gradient in East Asia. We demonstrate that after accounting for topography and correcting the gamma-diversity bias, tropical forests still have higher beta-diversity than temperate analogs. This suggests that local beta-diversity contributes to the latitudinal species richness gradient as a component of gamma-diversity. Moreover, niche specialization and niche marginality (a measure of niche spacing along a habitat gradient) also increases towards the equator, after removing the effect of topographic heterogeneity. This supports the hypothesis of tighter species packing and larger niche space in tropical forests while demonstrating the importance of local processes in controlling beta-diversity.</p>
<p>Funding provided by: Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences*<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: <br>Award Number: XDB310300</p><p>Funding provided by: National Natural Science Foundation of China<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809<br>Award Number: 31770478</p><p>Funding provided by: Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: <br>Award Number: XDB310300</p>
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tht76hdww
oai:zenodo.org:4716789
Zenodo
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.3045
https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode
Species packing and the latitudinal gradient in local beta-diversity
info:eu-repo/semantics/other