Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale
- PMID: 28663501
- DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5678
Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale
Abstract
Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree species diversity reflect not only stronger CNDD at tropical versus temperate latitudes but also a latitudinal shift in the relationship between CNDD and species abundance. CNDD was stronger for rare species at tropical versus temperate latitudes, potentially causing the persistence of greater numbers of rare species in the tropics. Our study reveals fundamental differences in the nature of local-scale biotic interactions that contribute to the maintenance of species diversity across temperate and tropical communities.
Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
Comment in
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How latitude affects biotic interactions.Science. 2017 Jun 30;356(6345):1328-1329. doi: 10.1126/science.aan6356. Science. 2017. PMID: 28663453 No abstract available.
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Comment on "Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale".Science. 2018 May 25;360(6391):eaar2435. doi: 10.1126/science.aar2435. Science. 2018. PMID: 29798852
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Comment on "Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale".Science. 2018 May 25;360(6391):eaar4685. doi: 10.1126/science.aar4685. Science. 2018. PMID: 29798854
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