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Plant richness, turnover and evolutionary diversity track gradients of stability and ecological opportunity in a megadiversity centre

Colville, J.F.; Beale, C.M.; Forest, F.; Altwegg, R.; Huntley, B.; Cowling, R.M.

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Authors

J.F. Colville

C.M. Beale

F. Forest

R. Altwegg

B. Huntley

R.M. Cowling



Abstract

What explains global patterns of diversity—environmental history or ecology? Most studies have focused on latitudinal gradients—the decline of diversity from the tropics to the poles. A problem with this is that it conflates predictions of historical and ecological hypotheses: The productive tropics have also experienced high Cenozoic biome stability. Longitudinal diversity gradients can overcome this constraint. We use a longitudinal diversity gradient in the megadiverse Cape Floristic Region to model species and evolutionary diversity in terms of Pleistocene climate stability and ecological heterogeneity. We find that biome stability is the strongest predictor of diversity measures, and argue that stability, in conjunction with measures of ecological opportunity—other than productivity—may provide a general explanation for global diversity patterns

Citation

Colville, J., Beale, C., Forest, F., Altwegg, R., Huntley, B., & Cowling, R. (2020). Plant richness, turnover and evolutionary diversity track gradients of stability and ecological opportunity in a megadiversity centre. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(33), 20027-20037. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915646117

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 7, 2020
Online Publication Date Aug 5, 2020
Publication Date Aug 18, 2020
Deposit Date Jul 21, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Print ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 117
Issue 33
Pages 20027-20037
DOI https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915646117

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