The Latitudinal Diversity Gradient: Novel Understanding through Mechanistic Eco-evolutionary Models
Résumé
The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most widely debated patterns in ecology and evolution, associated with hundreds of papers, dozens of hypotheses, and disagreements about its underlying processes. The lack of agreement stems from 1) the verbal nature of existing hypotheses, 2) the failure to mechanistically integrate all relevant ecological and evolutionary processes to the LDG, and 3) the degree to which many empirical patterns are consistent with multiple LDG explanations. We show how mapping LDG hypotheses to a set of key ecological and evolutionary processes leads to a better understanding of the internal logic of those hypotheses. The codification of those processes within a mechanistic eco-evolutionary model is essential for contrasting support for hypotheses and for understanding the relative importance of the processes themselves.
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