Co-limitation towards lower latitudes shapes global forest diversity gradients
- Authors:Jingjing Liang, Javier G. P. Gamarra, Nicolas Picard, Mo Zhou, Bryan Pijanowski, Douglass F. Jacobs, Peter B. Reich, Thomas W. Crowther, Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Sergio de-Miguel, Jingyun Fang, Christopher W. Woodall, Jens-Christian Svenning, Tommaso Jucker, Jean-François Bastin, Susan K. Wiser, Ferry Slik, Bruno Herault, Giorgio Alberti, Gunnar Keppel, Geerten M. Hengeveld, Pierre L. Ibisch, Carlos A. Silva, Hans ter Steege, Pablo L. Peri, David A. Coomes, Eric B. Searle, Klaus von Gadow, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Akane O. Abbasi, Meinrad Abegg, Yves C. Adou Yao, Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Angelica M. Almeyda Zambrano, Jan Altman, Esteban Álvarez-Dávila, Juan Gabriel Álvarez-González, Luciana F. Alves, Bienvenu H. K. Amani, Christian A. Amani, Christian Ammer, Bhely Angoboy Ilondea, Clara Antón-Fernández, Valerio Avitabile, Gerardo A. Aymard, Akomian F. Azihou, Johan A. Baard, Timothy R. Baker, Radomir Balazy, Meredith L. Bastian, Rodrigue Batumike, Marijn Bauters, Hans Beeckman, Nithanel Mikael Hendrik Benu, Robert Bitariho, Pascal Boeckx, Jan Bogaert, Frans Bongers, Olivier Bouriaud, Pedro H. S. Brancalion, Susanne Brandl, Francis Q. Brearley, Jaime Briseno-Reyes, Eben N. Broadbent, Helge Bruelheide, Erwin Bulte, Ann Christine Catlin, Roberto Cazzolla Gatti, Ricardo G. César, Han Y. H. Chen, Chelsea Chisholm, Emil Cienciala, Gabriel D. Colletta, José Javier Corral-Rivas, Anibal Cuchietti, Aida Cuni Sanchez, Javid A. Dar, Selvadurai Dayanandan, Thales De Haulleville, Mathieu Decuyper, Sylvain Delabye, Géraldine Derroire, Ben DeVries, John Diisi, Tran Van Do, Jiri Dolezal, Aurélie Dourdain, Graham P. Durrheim, Nestor Laurier Engone Obiang, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Teresa J. Eyre, Tom M. Fayle, Lethicia Flavine N. Feunang, Leena Finér, Markus Fischer, Jonas Fridman, Lorenzo Frizzera, André L. de Gasper, Damiano Gianelle, Henry B. Glick, Maria Socorro Gonzalez-Elizondo, Lev Gorenstein, Richard Habonayo, Olivier J. Hardy, David J. Harris, Andrew Hector, Andreas Hemp, Martin Herold, Annika Hillers, Wannes Hubau, Thomas Ibanez, Nobuo Imai, Gerard Imani, Andrzej M. Jagodzinski, Stepan Janecek, Vivian Kvist Johannsen, Carlos A. Joly, Blaise Jumbam, Banoho L. P. R. Kabelong, Goytom Abraha Kahsay, Viktor Karminov, Kuswata Kartawinata, Justin N. Kassi, Elizabeth Kearsley, Deborah K. Kennard, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, Mohammed Latif Khan, John N. Kigomo, Hyun Seok Kim, Carine Klauberg, Yannick Klomberg, Henn Korjus, Subashree Kothandaraman, Florian Kraxner, Amit Kumar, Relawan Kuswandi, Mait Lang, Michael J. Lawes, Rodrigo V. Leite, Geoffrey Lentner, Simon L. Lewis, Moses B. Libalah, Janvier Lisingo, Pablito Marcelo López-Serrano, Huicui Lu, Natalia V. Lukina, Anne Mette Lykke, Vincent Maicher, Brian S. Maitner, Eric Marcon, Andrew R. Marshall, Emanuel H. Martin, Olga Martynenko, Faustin M. Mbayu, Musingo T. E. Mbuvi, Jorge A. Meave, Cory Merow, Stanislaw Miscicki, Vanessa S. Moreno, Albert Morera, Sharif A. Mukul, Jörg C. Müller, Agustinus Murdjoko, Maria Guadalupe Nava-Miranda, Litonga Elias Ndive, Victor J. Neldner, Radovan V. Nevenic, Louis N. Nforbelie, Michael L. Ngoh, Anny E. N’Guessan, Michael R. Ngugi, Alain S. K. Ngute, Emile Narcisse N. Njila, Melanie C. Nyako, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Jacek Oleksyn, Alain Paquette, Elena I. Parfenova, Minjee Park, Marc Parren, Narayanaswamy Parthasarathy, Sebastian Pfautsch, Oliver L. Phillips, Maria T. F. Piedade, Daniel Piotto, Martina Pollastrini, Lourens Poorter, John R. Poulsen, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Hans Pretzsch, Mirco Rodeghiero, Samir G. Rolim, Francesco Rovero, Ervan Rutishauser, Khosro Sagheb-Talebi, Purabi Saikia, Moses Nsanyi Sainge, Christian Salas-Eljatib, Antonello Salis, Peter Schall, Dmitry Schepaschenko, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Bernhard Schmid, Jochen Schöngart, Vladimír Šebeň, Giacomo Sellan, Federico Selvi, Josep M. Serra-Diaz, Douglas Sheil, Anatoly Z. Shvidenko, Plinio Sist, Alexandre F. Souza, Krzysztof J. Stereńczak, Martin J. P. Sullivan, Somaiah Sundarapandian, Miroslav Svoboda, Mike D. Swaine, Natalia Targhetta, Nadja Tchebakova, Liam A. Trethowan, Robert Tropek, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Peter Mbanda Umunay, Vladimir A. Usoltsev, Gaia Vaglio Laurin, Riccardo Valentini, Fernando Valladares, Fons van der Plas, Daniel José Vega-Nieva, Hans Verbeeck, Helder Viana, Alexander C. Vibrans, Simone A. Vieira, Jason Vleminckx, Catherine E. Waite, Hua-Feng Wang, Eric Katembo Wasingya, Chemuku Wekesa, Bertil Westerlund, Florian Wittmann, Verginia Wortel, Tomasz Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Chunyu Zhang, Xiuhai Zhao, Jun Zhu, Xiao Zhu, Zhi-Xin Zhu, Irié C. Zo-Bi, Cang Hui
- Publication Date:January 10, 2022
- Type:Journal Article
- DOI:10.1038/s41559-022-01831-x
- Publication On:Nature Ecology and Evolution
Abstract
The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most recognized global patterns of species richness exhibited across a wide range of taxa. Numerous hypotheses have been proposed in the past two centuries to explain LDG, but rigorous tests of the drivers of LDGs have been limited by a lack of high-quality global species richness data. Here we produce a high-resolution (0.025° × 0.025°) map of local tree species richness using a global forest inventory database with individual tree information and local biophysical characteristics from ~1.3 million sample plots. We then quantify drivers of local tree species richness patterns across latitudes. Generally, annual mean temperature was a dominant predictor of tree species richness, which is most consistent with the metabolic theory of biodiversity (MTB). However, MTB underestimated LDG in the tropics, where high species richness was also moderated by topographic, soil and anthropogenic factors operating at local scales. Given that local landscape variables operate synergistically with bioclimatic factors in shaping the global LDG pattern, we suggest that MTB be extended to account for co-limitation by subordinate drivers.