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65 results for “tropical elevation gradient”
Data from: Environmental variation associated with topography explains butterfly diversity along a tropical elevation gradient
<p>Few studies have evaluated the role of topography on the diversity patterns of biological communities along elevation gradients. We evaluated the influence of microclimate and vegetation structure associated with topographic variation on the richness and composition of species of different families of butterflies on a mountain located in a dry enclave (Chicamocha River Canyon) in the northern Andes, Colombia. We captured butterflies over four months at 18 elevations (300 to 1500 m a.s.l.) in two topographic positions (riverbed and hillslope) using an entomological net and traps baited with fermented fruit. In general, butterfly richness increased with elevation in both topographic positions. However, the richness-elevation relationship changed with butterfly family. The riverbed and hillslope sites host different assemblages of butterflies, and this pattern that was consistent for most families. In the riverbed, two sets of species are recognized along the elevation gradient (one below 700 m a.s.l. and the other above 1000 m a.s.l.), mainly owing to species replacement. On the hillslopes there was no clear pattern of grouping associated with elevation. Microclimate differences between the riverbed and hillslope sites along the elevation gradient were related to the vegetation structure and explained the variation in butterfly species composition. Our results highlight the role of topography not only by explaining the response of species richness and composition to environmental variation determined by elevation, but also as a factor that must be considered in the planning and management of biodiversity conservation in the mountains.</p>
Predators like it hot: Thermal mismatch in a predator-prey system across an elevational tropical gradient
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Data from: Variation in biodiversity and abundance of functional groups of arthropods along a tropical elevational gradient in Puerto Rico
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Data from: Environmental variation associated with topography explains butterfly diversity along a tropical elevation gradient
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Datasets - Evolutionary history, not ecogeographic rules, explains size variation of tropical insects along elevational gradients
<p>One of the best-known biogeographic rules for ectotherms is the temperature-size rule, which asserts that ectotherms produce smaller adults at warmer temperatures. Although this is often true, it has become clear that there is no single process behind the pattern and many exceptions to the rule. To disentangle such complex temperature-size relationships, individual clades must be examined at ecological and evolutionary scales.</p> <p>We examined temperature-size relationships for 2106 individuals from 64 populations and 40 species of <i>Cephaloleia</i> rolled-leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae; Cassidinae)<b> </b>occurring along two tropical elevational gradientss: Barva and the Talamanca Cordillera in Costa Rica, Central America. We tested whether the temperature-size rule applied to interspecific elevational assemblages, intraspecific elevational populations, or different rearing temperatures for individual populations.</p> <p>At the interspecific scale, evolutionary history, rather than elevation, explains body size. At the intraspecific scale, only one of seven species followed the temperature-size rule across elevations. When larvae were reared at different temperatures, only one of five populations followed the temperature-size rule. Most populations grew to a fixed size regardless of temperature.</p> <p>Size in <i>Cephaloleia</i> beetles is constrained by their evolutionary history and responds to factors that rarely correlate with temperature. As temperature increases, ectotherms will not universally shrink, but determining if and why their size will change will require further investigation.</p> <p>Here we provide the following datasets used to determine effects of temperature on insect body size at population and community levels: <i>Supplement S1.</i> Body length for 2106 individuals representing 64 populations from 40 species of <i>Cephaloleia </i>rolled-leaf beetle along the Barva and Talamanca elevational gradients, Costa Rica<i>. Supplement S2.</i> Intraspecific differences in length for 798 individuals from seven <i>Cephaloleia </i>species present at multiple life zone<i>.</i><i> Supplement S3.</i> Effects of developmental temperatures on <i>Cephaloleia </i>adult size in 968 individuals from four species and five populations reared in the laboratory at temperatures between 10 and 35 °C.</p>
Bromeliad populations perform distinct ecological strategies across a tropical elevation gradient
<ol> <li>The effect of environmental gradients on the remarkable diversity of mountain-associated plants and on the species' abilities to cope with climate change transcends species-specific strategies. For instance, our understanding of the impact of thermal gradients on ecological divergences in populations of widely distributed species is limited, although it could provide important insights regarding species' response to climate change.</li> <li>Here, we investigated whether populations of an endemic species broadly distributed across an elevation gradient employ unique or multiple divergent ecological strategies according to specific environmental conditions. We hypothesized that populations employ distinct strategies, producing a tolerance-avoidance trade-off related to the thermal conditions they experience across elevations.</li> <li>We conducted our research with 125 individuals of <em>Pitcairnia</em> <em>flammea</em> (Bromeliaceae) sampled from various elevations spanning from sea level to ~2,200 meters and cultivated under the same conditions. To assess specific ecological strategies of <em>P. flammea</em> populations across elevations, we examined leaf temperature, heat and cold tolerances, as well as other structural/morphological, optical, physiological, and biochemical leaf traits.</li> <li>We majorly observed that water-saving traits diminish as elevation increases while membrane fluidity, majorly associated with unsaturated and very-long-chain lipids, enhances. Low-elevation individuals of <em>P. flammea</em> invest in water storage tissues, which likely prevent excessive water loss through the intense transpiration rates under warming periods. Conversely, high-elevation plants exhibit increased membrane fluidity, a possible response to the stiffening induced by low temperature.</li> <li>Our results revealed a tolerance-avoidance trade-off related to thermal strategies of populations distributed across an elevation gradient. Low-elevation plants avoid excessive leaf temperature by investing in water-saving traits to maintain transpiration rates. High-elevation individuals, in turn, tend to invest in membrane properties to tolerate thermal variations, particularly cold events.</li> <li>Our findings challenge the conventional notion that plants' vulnerability to warming depends on species-specific thermal tolerance by showing diverse thermal strategies on populations across an elevation gradient.</li> </ol>
Phylogenetic α- and β-diversities jointly reveal leaf-litter ant community assembly mechanisms along a tropical elevational gradient
<p>This study was conducted along the eastern slope of the Cofre de Perote mountain, in Veracruz, Mexico. This region is located at the junction of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and the Sierra Madre Oriental. We selected eight study sites spanning an elevational gradient of 3500 meters of altitude. Regardless of the geographical distance, all sites were systematically separated with an elevational difference of 500 meters on average between each other. We placed our study sites at the following elevations above sea level: 30-50 m, 610-670 m, 900-1010 m, 1470-1650 m, 2020-2230 m, 2470-2600 m, 3070-3160 m and 3480-3540 m, however, for simplicity, we will refer to each site as discrete units (i.e. 0, 600, 1000, 1500, 2100, 2500, 3100, 3500 m).</p> <p>Sampling sites were old-growth forests characterized by no obvious forest use and highly dominance of mature forests, except in the case of the lowest site (i.e., La Mancha), where most of its original vegetation has been transformed. To overcome the effect of perturbation in the studied patterns, we sampled La Mancha in a secondary forest with up to 30 years of regeneration. All sampling sites were closed-canopy forests in which a leaf-litter layer could be guaranteed. During the rainy season (July-September) of 2018 one 300-m transversal transect was located at each one of the eight study locations where we established 10 equidistantly sampling points (i.e., 30 meters between each other). Two independent 1-m2 samples were taken perpendicularly to each sampling point: one 10 meters on the right side and the other 10 meters from the left side. This procedure was repeated in a second transect placed during the dry season (March-May) of 2019 to increase community characterization as well as reduce any seasonality effect on our diversity patterns. Transects within an elevational site were separated at least 1 km away from each other. Thus, we obtained 320 m<sup>2</sup> leaf-litter samples characterized the whole mountain (8 study sites x 20 m<sup>2 </sup>per transect x 2 transects = 320 m<sup>2</sup>). In each 1-m<sup>2</sup> quadrat, we collected the leaf litter inside and sifted it through a coarse mesh screen of 1-cm grid size to remove the largest fragments and concentrate the fine litter. The concentrated fine litter from each sample was suspended in independent mini-Winkler sacks for 3 days in the laboratory. Falling arthropods were collected into a container with 95% ethanol. Ant workers were removed from each container for identification. When possible, specimens were identified at the species level. If not, we assigned a morphospecies number.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Phylogenetic tree constructions</strong></p> <p>Ideally, one would use a complete, species-level phylogeny of all ant species present in your study area to calculate phylogenetic diversity, yet our current understanding of ant relationships is still limited. As an alternative, we built a genus-level phylogeny based on the tree by Moreau & Bell, (2013), but using the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times within Myrmicinae from Ward et al. (2015). This phylogeny was then pruned to keep only a single species per genus to generate a genus-level phylogeny. To maximize taxonomic coverage, we replaced genera that were missing from those studies by closely-related lineages that were not present in our dataset using other phylogenetic studies (Borowiec, 2016; Lapolla et al., 2010; Schmidt & Shattuck, 2014). We then used the list of species (Supporting Information Table S1) in our dataset to simulate a species-level phylogeny in which the relationships within genera were obtained from a Yule (pure-birth) process using the <em>genus.to.species.tree</em> function in the “phytools” package (Revell, 2012). A total of 1000 simulated trees were obtained to account for phylogenetic uncertainty [see Arnan et al. (2018) and Divieso et al. (2020) for similar approach]. Additionally, we constructed a maximum clade credibility tree (hereafter MCC tree) which was used to summarize the uncertainty of the 1000 simulated trees. The MCC tree was constructed from the sample of the 1000 trees with the <em>maxCladeCred</em> function incorporated in the “ape” package (Paradis et al., 2019). Both the 1000 hypothetical trees and the MCC tree were used in downstream analyses (Supporting Information Fig. 1).</p>
Lianas and trees exhibit divergent intrinsic water-use efficiency along elevational gradients in South American and African tropical forests
<p>Elevational gradients provide excellent opportunities to explore long-term morphological and physiological responses of plants to environmental change. We determined the difference in the elevational pattern of foliar carbon isotope composition (<i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C) between lianas and trees, and assessed whether this difference arises from changes in photosynthesis or stomatal conductance. We also explored the pattern of nutrient limitations with the elevation of these two growth forms. We conducted inventories of lianas and trees using standardized techniques along elevational gradients in Ecuador and Rwanda. We determined the values of several foliar traits including <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and chemical traits in dominant liana and tree species. We set up Bayesian linear mixed-effect models to quantify the effects of elevation and these two growth forms, and the difference of the effect of elevation between the two growth forms on each of the foliar traits. We found consistent growth form specific divergences in foliar<i> δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) responses to elevation. While we noted a meaningful increase in foliar <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and C:N with elevation for trees, lianas did not exhibit such a trend. Foliar <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C and C:N remained relatively constant for lianas along the transects. The physiological processes at the basis of foliar carbon isotope fractionation shift differently in lianas and trees along elevation. Lianas operate at relatively constant intrinsic water- and nitrogen- use efficiencies with elevation as opposed to trees. Altogether, the study suggests the existence of a functional divergence of water and nutrient use strategies between lianas and trees along tropical elevational transects.</p>
Changing patterns of nest predation and predator communities along a tropical elevation gradient
<p><span>Tropical montane communities host the world's highest beta diversity of birds, a phenomenon usually attributed to community turnover caused by changes in biotic and abiotic factors along elevation gradients. Yet, empirical data on most biotic factors are lacking. Nest predation is thought to be especially important because it appears to be common and can change selective pressures underlying life history traits, which can alter competitive interactions. We monitored 2,538 nests, </span><span>338 of which had known nest predators, to evaluate if nest predation changes along a tropical elevational gradient. We found that nest predation decreased with elevation, reflecting the loss of lowland predators that do not tolerate colder climates. We found different "super" nest predators at each elevation that accounted for a high percentage of events, suggesting that selection pressures exerted by nest predator communities may be less diffuse than has been hypothesized, at least for birds nesting in the understory.</span></p>
Changing patterns of nest predation and predator communities along a tropical elevation gradient
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Datasets - Evolutionary history, not ecogeographic rules, explains size variation of tropical insects along elevational gradients
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Floral Color Diversity: How Are Signals Shaped by Elevational Gradient on the Tropical–Subtropical Mountainous Island of Taiwan?
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Bromeliad populations perform distinct ecological strategies across a tropical elevation gradient
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Data from: Interspecific aggression among parapatric and sympatric songbirds on a tropical elevational gradient
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Data from: Complex temporal dynamics of insect metacommunities along a tropical elevational gradient
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Latitudinal patterns of species richness and range size of ferns along elevational gradients at the transition from tropics to subtropics
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Lianas and trees exhibit divergent intrinsic water-use efficiency along elevational gradients in South American and African tropical forests
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Data from: Changing ecological communities along an elevation gradient in seasonally dry tropical forest on Hispaniola (Sierra Martín García, Dominican Republic)
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Data from: Forest structure determines spatial changes in avian community along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa
Aim To test if tree species richness and forest structure drive spatial variation in avian communities along a tropical elevation gradient and to present information about the role of detailed forest parameters. Location A 2000-m long elevational gradient of tropical forest on Mt. Cameroon, west-central Africa. Taxon Birds and trees. Methods We performed bird censuses and vegetation mapping at the same plots across six forested sites at elevations of 350, 650, 1,100, 1,500, 1,850, and 2,200 m a.s.l., with 16 plots per elevation. We tested the effects of elevation, forest structure and tree diversity on the species richness, functional diversity and β-diversity of birds (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity). We used conditional inference trees based on random forests (RF) to investigate these relationships across all elevation sites as well as within elevations. Results Both tree and bird species richness declined monotonically with elevation. Vegetation structure correlated with elevation, and all vegetation attributes significantly differed among elevations. The RF explained 70% of the variance in avian species richness, with the most important predictors being elevation, proportion of dead trees, tree species richness and herb layer coverage. We found that elevation (and shrub layerE2) was a particularly important predictor of avian functional diversity. We identified no important predictor of bird species richness after standardization within elevations, and the proportion of dead trees was the sole important predictor of functional diversity. Within-elevation β-diversity in avian community composition was determined by the dissimilarity of the tree community and differences in leaf area index, solar radiation and spatial distance. The functional dissimilarity was best explained by leaf area index. Main conclusions Apart from elevation itself, spatial distance even within elevations correlated with compositional and functional variation among avian assemblages. Forest structural traits can have a significant influence on distribution of birds. Thus, gaps in the spatial distribution of species such as along elevations might be caused by fine-scale recognition of suitable habitats.
Data from: Differences in carbon stocks along an elevational gradient in tropical mountain forests of Colombia
Tropical mountain forests provide an exceptional opportunity to evaluate the patterns of variation of carbon stocks along elevational gradients that correspond to well-defined temperature gradients. We predicted that carbon stored in live aboveground biomass, aboveground necromass, and soil components of forests on the eastern flank of the Colombian Andes would change with elevation along this gradient extending from 750 to 2800 m above sea level. The rationale was that the corresponding change in temperature (14°C to 26°C) would influence tree growth and decomposition of organic matter. To address this hypothesis, we examined the carbon stored in these three components using data from 20 0.25-ha plots located along this elevational gradient. The mean total carbon stock found in the study region was 241.3±37.5 Mg C/ha. Aboveground carbon stocks decreased with elevation (p =0.001), as did necromass carbon stocks (p =0.016). Although soil organic carbon stocks did not differ significantly along the gradient (p =0.153), they contributed proportionately more at higher than at lower elevations, counterbalancing the opposite trends in aboveground carbon and necromass carbon stocks. As such, total carbon stocks did not vary significantly along the elevational gradient (p =0.576).
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Allen Brain Atlas
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