Disentangling the drivers of ß diversity along latitudinal and elevational gradients.
Science
; 333(6050): 1755-8, 2011 Sep 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21940897
ABSTRACT
Understanding spatial variation in biodiversity along environmental gradients is a central theme in ecology. Differences in species compositional turnover among sites (ß diversity) occurring along gradients are often used to infer variation in the processes structuring communities. Here, we show that sampling alone predicts changes in ß diversity caused simply by changes in the sizes of species pools. For example, forest inventories sampled along latitudinal and elevational gradients show the well-documented pattern that ß diversity is higher in the tropics and at low elevations. However, after correcting for variation in pooled species richness (γ diversity), these differences in ß diversity disappear. Therefore, there is no need to invoke differences in the mechanisms of community assembly in temperate versus tropical systems to explain these global-scale patterns of ß diversity.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Plantas
/
Árvores
/
Ecossistema
/
Biodiversidade
/
Meio Ambiente
/
Altitude
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2011
Tipo de documento:
Article