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333 results for “diversity gradient”
R codes from: Breakdown of the growth–mortality trade-off along a soil phosphorus gradient in diverse neotropical forest
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Trait functional diversity explains mixture effects on litter decomposition at the arid end of a climate gradient
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There and back to the present: a model-based framework to estimate phylogenetically constrained alpha diversity gradients
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Functional beta diversity of New Zealand fishes: characterising morphological turnover along depth and latitude gradients, with derivation of functional bioregions
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Data from: Environmental variation associated with topography explains butterfly diversity along a tropical elevation gradient
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Is there a latitudinal diversity gradient for symbiotic microbes? A case study with sensitive partridge peas
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Exceptions to the rule: Relative roles of time, diversification rates and regional energy in shaping the inverse latitudinal diversity gradient
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Explaining global variation in the latitudinal diversity gradient: Meta-analysis confirms known patterns and uncovers new one
This dataset is also available on the Dryad Digital Repository (link: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rg5rd). The code is also available on GitHub (link: https://github.com/nlkinlock/LDGmeta-analysis). This dataset was created to explore patterns in biodiversity across latitude. The pattern of increasing biological diversity from high latitudes to the equator [latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG)] has been recognized for greater than 200 years. Empirical studies have documented this pattern across many different organisms and locations. In order to quantify the evidence for the global LDG and the associated spatial, taxonomic and environmental factors, a systematic review, followed by a meta-analysis of the resulting dataset, were carried out. This dataset contains a large number of individual LDGs that have been published in the 14 years since Hillebrand's ground‐breaking meta‐analysis of the LDG.
Elevational gradient in ant diversity in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in 2005
This study will examine spatial patterns of ant diversity, body size, and community composition along the elevational gradient at Coweeta. The data will be part of a larger study that will examine several gradients in the US and abroad to assess whether there are general mechanisms that shape these diversity gradients. Patterns of ant species diversity are well documented and yet the mechanisms promoting species coexistence among communities are often elusive. Two emerging hypotheses that account for coexistence in ant communities are the discovery-dominance tradeoff and the dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoff. Here we used behavioural assays and community-level sampling from ant assemblages in the southern Appalachians, USA to test for the discovery-dominance and dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoffs. The investigators involved were Nathan Sanders, Robert Dunn, JP Lessard, and Melissa Geraghty.
Data from: The latitudinal diversity gradient of tetrapods across the Permo-Triassic mass extinction and recovery interval
<p>The decline in species richness from the equator to the poles is referred to as the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG). Higher equatorial diversity has been recognised for over 200 years, but the consistency of this pattern in deep time remains uncertain. Examination of spatial biodiversity patterns in the past across different global climate regimes and continental configurations can reveal how LDGs have varied over Earth history and potentially differentiate between suggested causal mechanisms. The Late Permian–Middle Triassic represents an ideal time interval for study, because it is characterised by large-scale volcanic episodes, extreme greenhouse temperatures, and the most severe mass extinction event in Earth history. We examined terrestrial and marine tetrapod spatial biodiversity patterns using a database of global tetrapod occurrences. Terrestrial tetrapods exhibit a bimodal richness distribution throughout the Late Permian–Middle Triassic, with peaks in the northern low latitudes and southern mid latitudes around 20-40°N and 60°S, respectively. Marine reptile fossils are known almost exclusively from the Northern Hemisphere in the Early and Middle Triassic, with highest diversity around 20°N. Reconstructed terrestrial LDGs contrast strongly with the generally unimodal gradients of today, potentially reflecting high global temperatures and prevailing Pangaean super-monsoonal climate system during the Permo-Triassic.</p>
Data from: Assessing avian diversity and community composition along a successional gradient in traditional Lacandon Maya agroforests
Evidence regarding the ability of agroforests to conserve biological diversity has been mixed; they tend to maintain avian communities with species richness similar to that of undisturbed forest ecosystems but generally do not completely preserve community composition. Using a combination of occupancy modeling and non-metric multidimensional scaling on point-count data, we assessed changes in avian community diversity and composition along a successional gradient in traditional Lacandon Maya agroforests and compared them to protected areas in the region. Bird species richness and diversity in Lacandon agroforests peaked in early secondary forest stages. These agroforests' mean Shannon-Weiner diversity was 5% higher than that of nearby protected areas, but their species richness was similar. Community composition in Lacandon agroforests changed throughout succession, with earlier stages supporting communities distinctly characterized by generalist species, while subsequent, less-intensively managed stages tended to support more forest-dwellers. The bird community observed in even the most mature secondary forest stages in Lacandon agroforests differed from that of undisturbed rainforest ecosystems. These results demonstrate the potential of traditional Lacandon agroforestry management to conserve avian biodiversity while ensuring food sovereignty for farmers. However, because the community composition of early successional stages was different than later stages, shortening fallow cycles and reducing forest cover to increase agricultural production will limit the species this system can support. This study illustrates the value of incorporating traditional agroecosystems into conservation planning as well as maintaining protected areas, because the latter serve as refugia for species that require undisturbed forest habitat in an agroecological matrix.
Data from: Bird diversity and endemism along a land-use gradient in Madagascar: the conservation value of vanilla agroforests
<div> <div> <p>Land-use change is the most important driver of biodiversity loss worldwide and particularly so in the tropics, where natural habitats are transformed into large-scale monocultures or heterogeneous landscape mosaics of largely unknown conservation value. Using birds as an indicator taxon, we evaluated the conservation value of a landscape mosaic in north-eastern Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot and the center of global vanilla production. We assessed bird species richness and composition by conducting point counts across seven prevalent land-use types (forest- and fallow-derived vanilla agroforests, woody and herbaceous fallow that are part of a shifting cultivation system, rice paddy, forest fragment and contiguous old-growth forest). We find that old-growth forest had the highest species richness, driven by a high share of endemics. Species richness and community composition in forest-derived vanilla agroforest was similar to forest fragment, whereas fallow-derived vanilla agroforest was most comparable to woody fallow. The open land-use types herbaceous fallow and rice paddy had fewest species. Across forest fragment, vanilla agroforests and woody fallow, endemic bird species richness was positively correlated to landscape-scale forest cover. We conclude that both fallow- and forest-derived vanilla agroforests play an important but contrasting role for bird conservation in the landscape: Fallow-derived agroforests are less valuable but take fallow land out of the shifting cultivation cycle, possibly preventing further degradation. Conversely, forest-derived agroforests contribute to forest degradation but may avoid total loss of forest fragments. Considering the land-use history of agroforests may thus be a promising avenue for future research beyond the case of vanilla.</p> </div> </div>
The interacting effect of habitat amount, habitat diversity and fragmentation on insect diversity along elevational gradients.
Aim: Elevational gradients are a useful approach to evaluate how environmental factors affect animal diversity. Decades of studies on the elevation-diversity gradient have revealed that this gradient varies greatly with taxa and geographic regions. One potential explanation for this may be the dependence of the relationship on landscape features. We explore the impact of fragmentation, habitat diversity and habitat amount on insect diversity (alpha and beta) and abundance along elevational gradients. We hypothesize that insect diversity and abundance will relate negatively with elevation, but positively with these landscape features. We also hypothesize that landscape features will interact in a way that the positive effect of a given variable on insect diversity may be offset by the others. Location: Reunion Island (Indian Ocean) Taxon: The insect order thrips (Thysanoptera) Methods: Insects were sampled along replicated elevational gradients, and at each sampling plot landscape features and abiotic variables were estimated within buffers surrounding the site. Insect alpha diversity was estimated using abundance-based rarefaction methods, whereas beta diversity was estimated calculating the "local contributions to beta diversity" metric. The effect of elevation, rainfall, landscape features and their interactions was assessed on insect alpha and beta diversity and abundance during two consecutive seasons using linear mixed effects models. Results: We found that thrips alpha and beta diversity was negatively related with elevation, but the relationship varied between seasons and rainfall regimes. Among the different landscape features considered, we found that habitat amount had the strongest effect on diversity. The effect of habitat amount on diversity, however, was offset in areas of low habitat (or land cover) diversity. Main conclusions: Generalizing the factors that underlie the elevation diversity gradient has become a cornerstone in ecological theory because it can help to understand the impact of human activities on diversity. Here we show that taking landscape information into account may help to fulfil this objective because landscape effects co-vary with elevation with often intricate consequences for diversity.
Data from: Marine latitudinal diversity gradients, niche conservatism, and out of the tropics and Arctic: climatic sensitivity of small organisms
<ul> <li>Aim</li> </ul> <p>The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is a consequence of evolutionary and ecological mechanisms acting over long history, and thus is best investigated with organisms that have rich fossil records. However, combined neontological-paleontological investigations are mostly limited to large, shelled invertebrates, which keeps our mechanistic understanding of LDGs in its infancy. This paper aims to describe the modern meiobenthic ostracod LDG and to explore the possible controlling factors and the evolutionary mechanisms of this large-scale biodiversity pattern.</p> <ul> <li>Location</li> </ul> <p>Present-day Western North Atlantic</p> <ul> <li>Taxon</li> </ul> <p>Ostracoda</p> <ul> <li>Methods</li> </ul> <p>We compiled census data from ostracods living in shallow marine environments of the western North Atlantic Ocean. Using these data, we documented the marine LDG with multiple metrics of alpha, beta (nestedness and turnover), and gamma diversity, and we tested whether macroecological patterns could be governed by different environmental factors, including temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and primary productivity. We also explored the geologic age distribution of ostracod genera to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning the LDG.</p> <ul> <li>Results</li> </ul> <p>Our results show that temperature and climatic niche conservatism are important in setting LDGs of these small, poorly-dispersing organisms. We also found evidence for some dispersal-driven spatial dynamics in the ostracod LDG. Compared to patterns observed in marine bivalves, however, dispersal dynamics were weaker and they were bi-directional, rather than following the "out-of-the-tropics" model.</p> <ul> <li>Main Conclusions</li> </ul> <p>Our detailed analyses revealed that meiobenthic organisms, which comprise two-thirds of marine diversity, do not always follow the same rules as larger, better-studied organisms. Our findings suggest that the under-studied majority of biodiversity may be more sensitive to climate than are well-studied, large organisms. This implies that the impacts of ongoing Anthropocene climatic change on marine ecosystems may be much more serious than presently thought.</p>
Overyielding in young tree communities does not support the stress-gradient hypothesis and is favoured by functional diversity and higher water availability
<p class="CxSpFirst"><strong>Summary:</strong></p> <ol> <li class="CxSpMiddle">Biodiversity effects on productivity and other ecosystem functions are strongly dependent on climate and resource availability. Based on the stress-gradient hypothesis, under conditions of greater abiotic stress, diversity effects on plant performance are intensified due to the increased relative importance of positive plant interactions. However, whether this hypothesis is consistently applicable in forest systems remains unclear. A field trial was established to test the stress-gradient hypothesis and examine diversity effects on aboveground biomass production of young trees in mixtures exposed to different water availability.</li> <li class="CxSpMiddle">Six native tree species of northern temperate forests (<i>Acer saccharum</i>,<i> Betula papyrifera</i>,<i> Larix laricina</i>,<i> Picea glauca, Pinus strobus</i>,<i> and Quercus rubra</i>) were planted as monocultures and as mixtures of two, four, and six species. For five growing seasons, four replicates of each community were exposed to conditions of either low- or high-water availability created by rainfall exclusion and weekly irrigation, respectively. Growth-years 4 and 5 were significantly different when the climatic water balance of the growing seasons were compared. We tested the effects of functional diversity on: (1) total growth of mixtures under low- and high-water availability, and (2) annual growth in years 4 (higher water availability, 2017) and 5 (lower water availability, 2018).</li> <li class="CxSpMiddle">Annual growth of most species in both years was greater under high- vs. low-water availability. Functional diversity had a significant positive effect on total biomass production and annual growth, and this effect was more strongly expressed under high-water availability. Functional diversity effects on annual growth did not differ between years 4 and 5 regardless of their climatic water balance. Functional and species identity were key to understanding productivity responses to mixture and treatment effects.</li> <li class="CxSpMiddle"> <i>Synthesis</i>: Contrary to the stress-gradient hypothesis, the positive effects of functional diversity on productivity were enhanced by high-water availability and were independent of seasonal water balance.</li> </ol>
Patch size and vegetation structure drive changes to mixed-species flock diversity and composition across a gradient of fragment sizes in the Western Andes of Colombia
<p>This data set represents a series of 502 mixed-species bird flock compositions, and derived taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity indices, that were gathered along a gradient of forest fragment sizes (range = 10-173 ha) in the Colombian Western Andes. We sampled mixed-species flocks using transect surveys along 14 transects in 8 fragments and a continuous forest reference site in the same landscape and at the same elevation (~1900-2200 m.a.s.l.). We also used buffer analysis to quantify the proportion of forest cover and forest edge within 1 km of each transect, and calculated local vegetation density and complexity, as well as distance from edge, for each 100-meter transect segment (<em>n</em> = 70 segments). Flock composition data observed on a transect were used to calculate overall species richness and flock size as well as two indices of functional and phylogenetic diversity; we calculated the stadardized effect size (SES) of each measure to account for the correlation between these measures and species richness. We also provide the raw counts of each species for each flock composition. These data were used for the analyses in Jones and Robinson (2020). </p>
A unifying framework for analyzing temporal changes in functional and taxonomic diversity along disturbance gradients
<p>Frameworks exclusively considering functional diversity are gaining popularity, as they complement and extend the information provided by taxonomic diversity metrics, particularly in response to disturbance. Taxonomic diversity should be included in functional diversity frameworks to uncover the functional mechanisms causing species loss following disturbance events. We present and test a predictive framework that considers temporal functional and taxonomic diversity responses along disturbance gradients. Our proposed framework allows us to test different multidimensional metrics of taxonomic diversity that can be directly compared to calculated multidimensional functional diversity metrics. It builds on existing functional diversity-disturbance frameworks both by using a gradient approach and by jointly considering taxonomic and functional diversity. We used previously unpublished stream insect community data collected prior to, and for the two years following, an extreme flood event that occurred in 2013. Using 14 northern Colorado mountain streams, we tested our framework and determined that taxonomic diversity metrics calculated using multidimensional methods resulted in concordance between taxonomic and functional diversity responses. By considering functional and taxonomic diversity together and using a gradient approach, we were able to identify some of the mechanisms driving species losses following this extreme disturbance event.</p>
Latitudinal gradient in the intensity of biotic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems: Sources of variation and differences from the diversity gradient revealed by meta-analysis
<p>The Latitudinal Biotic Interaction Hypothesis (LBIH) states that the intensity of biotic interactions increases from high to low latitudes. This hypothesis, which may partly explain latitudinal gradients in biodiversity, remains hotly debated, largely due to variable outcomes of published studies. We used meta-analysis to identify the scope of the LBIH in terrestrial ecosystems. For this purpose, we explored the sources of variation in the strength of latitudinal changes in herbivory, carnivory, and parasitism (119 publications) and compared these gradients with gradients in the diversity of the respective groups of animals (102 publications). Overall, both herbivory and carnivory decreased towards the poles, while parasitism increased. The latitudinal gradient in herbivory and carnivory was threefold stronger above 50–60º than at lower latitudes and was significant due to interactions involving ectothermic consumers, studies using standardized prey (i.e. prey lacking local anti-predator adaptations) and studies aimed at testing LBIH. The poleward decrease in biodiversity did not differ between ectothermic and endothermic animals or among climate zones and was four-fold stronger than decrease in herbivory and carnivory. The discovered differences between the gradients in biotic interactions and biodiversity suggest that these two global macroecological patterns are likely shaped by different factors.</p>
Data from: Temperature shapes opposing latitudinal gradients of plant taxonomic and phylogenetic β diversity
Latitudinal and elevational richness gradients have received much attention from ecologists but there is little consensus on underlying causes. One possible proximate cause is increased levels of species turnover, or β diversity, in the tropics compared to temperate regions. Here, we leverage a large botanical dataset to map taxonomic and phylogenetic β diversity, as mean turnover between neighboring 100 × 100 km cells, across the Americas and determine key climatic drivers. We find taxonomic and tip‐weighted phylogenetic β diversity is higher in the tropics, but that basal‐weighted phylogenetic β diversity is highest in temperate regions. Supporting Janzen's 'mountain passes' hypothesis, tropical mountainous regions had higher β diversity than temperate regions for taxonomic and tip‐weighted metrics. The strongest climatic predictors of turnover were average temperature and temperature seasonality. Taken together, these results suggest β diversity is coupled to latitudinal richness gradients and that temperature is a major driver of plant community composition and change.
Data from: Explaining global variation in the latitudinal diversity gradient: meta-analysis confirms known patterns and uncovers new ones
Aim: The pattern of increasing biological diversity from high latitudes to the equator [latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG)] has been recognized for > 200 years. Empirical studies have documented this pattern across many different organisms and locations. Our goal was to quantify the evidence for the global LDG and the associated spatial, taxonomic and environmental factors. We performed a meta-analysis on a large number of individual LDGs that have been published in the 14 years since Hillebrand's ground-breaking meta-analysis of the LDG, using meta-analysis and meta-regression approaches largely new to the fields of ecology and biogeography. Location: Global. Time period: January 2003–September 2015. Major taxa studied: Bacteria, protists, plants, fungi and animals. Methods: We synthesized the outcomes of 389 individual cases of LDGs from 199 papers published since 2003, using hierarchical mixed-effects meta-analysis and multiple meta-regression. Additionally, we re-analysed Hillebrand's original dataset using modern methods. Results: We confirmed the generality of the LDG, but found the pattern to be weaker than was found in Hillebrand's study. We identified previously unreported variation in LDG strength and slope across longitude, with evidence that the LDG is strongest in the Western Hemisphere. Locational characteristics, such as habitat and latitude range, contributed significantly to LDG strength, whereas organismal characteristics, including taxonomic group and trophic level, did not. Modern meta-analytical models that incorporate hierarchical structure led to more conservative and sometimes contrasting effect size estimates relative to Hillebrand's initial analysis, whereas meta-regression revealed underlying patterns in Hillebrand's dataset that were not apparent with a traditional analysis. Main conclusions: We present evidence of global latitudinal, longitudinal and habitat-based patterns in the LDG, which are apparent across both marine and terrestrial realms and over a broad taxonomic range of organisms, from bacteria to plants and vertebrates.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.