What causes latitudinal gradients in diversity?

Similarly to the climate harshness hypothesis, climate stability is suggested to be the reason for the latitudinal diversity gradient. Additionally, many habitats with high species diversity do experience seasonal climates, including many tropical regions that have highly seasonal rainfall (Brown and Lomolino 1998).

How does biodiversity change with latitude?

Increasing latitude decreases biodiversity. The equator has zero degrees latitude and as a result receives the most direct sunlight.

What is the latitudinal trend in species diversity?

Amongst the earliest remarked, and best documented, of broad-scale spatial patterns of life on Earth is a trend for more species to be found towards lower latitudes. The latitudinal gradient in species richness is such that most extant eukaryote, perhaps also prokaryote, species are found in the tropics.

How does latitude affect biodiversity give examples?

Biodiversity higher in the tropics, but species more likely to arise at higher latitudes. Summary: The results suggest that the latitudinal diversity gradient may be due higher species turnover — speciation counterbalanced by extinction — towards the poles than near the equator.

What are the gradients of biodiversity?

biodiversity gradient The gradual reduction in biomass and species numbers that occurs with increasing latitude. There are several theories to explain why life is more abundant in the tropics than in cooler regions.

What factors are important to driving diversity gradients in biodiversity?

Ecological explanations for these gradients in biodiversity focus on the effects of environmental variables, including productivity, temperature, precipitation and ecological disturbance regimes (the pattern of perturbations in environmental conditions), on species coexistence, whereas evolutionary processes are …

Which factor affects biodiversity the most?

Historically, habitat and land use change have had the biggest impact on biodiversity in all ecosystems, but climate change and pollution are projected to increasingly affect all aspects of biodiversity.

What is level of biodiversity?

Levels of biodiversity. Biodiversity is usually explored at three levels – genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. These three levels work together to create the complexity of life on Earth.

What increases biodiversity?

As a general rule, increasing biodiversity can be achieved by diversifying the range of habitats or vegetation structures available at a site. This can be achieved by, for example, varying mowing regimes, planting or seeding with native tree and shrub species, or occasional soil disturbance.

What is the latitudinal biodiversity gradient and what causes it?

Latitudinal gradients of biodiversity are biogeographic patterns that quantify the ways in which taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional, genetic, or phenetic biodiversity change with latitudinal position on the surface of the earth (Fig. 1).

What do you mean by latitudinal gradient of biodiversity?

Latitudinal gradients of biodiversity are biogeographic patterns that define the way in which components of taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional, genetic, or phenetic dimensions change with latitudinal position on the surface of the earth. By far, most research has considered only taxonomic biodiversity, generally species richness.

Are there latitudinal gradients in species richness?

The majority of research has considered only taxonomic biodiversity, and generally has focused on gradients of species richness. Consequently, much of this article summarizes the understanding of latitudinal gradients in species richness.

Why is it important to study latitudinal gradients?

Historically, research has focused on gradients of species richness (i.e., the number of species in an assemblage) because that was the only information available to effectively evaluate patterns of biodiversity at broad spatial extents ( Fig. 2 ).

Where does the latitudinal gradient occur in the deep sea?

The change in species diversity with latitude for Atlantic deep-sea (a) isopods, (b) gastropods; and (c) bivalves. Rex and colleagues demonstrated that species richness for these taxa falls from the equator northward into the Norwegian Sea.

What causes latitudinal gradients in diversity? Similarly to the climate harshness hypothesis, climate stability is suggested to be the reason for the latitudinal diversity gradient. Additionally, many habitats with high species diversity do experience seasonal climates, including many tropical regions that have highly seasonal rainfall (Brown and Lomolino 1998). How does biodiversity change with latitude?…