Global patterns and drivers of alpine plant species richness
2021
Aim Alpine ecosystems differ in area, macroenvironment and
biogeographical history across the Earth, but the relationship
between these factors and plant species richness is still
unexplored. Here, we assess the global patterns of plant
species richness in alpine ecosystems and their association
with environmental, geographical and historical factors at
regional and community scales. Location Global. Time period
Data collected between 1923 and 2019. Major taxa studied
Vascular plants. Methods We used a dataset representative of
global alpine vegetation, consisting of 8,928 plots sampled
within 26 ecoregions and six biogeographical realms, to
estimate regional richness using sample-based rarefaction and
extrapolation. Then, we evaluated latitudinal patterns of
regional and community richness with generalized additive
models. Using environmental, geographical and historical
predictors from global raster layers, we modelled regional and
community richness in a mixed-effect modelling framework.
Results The latitudinal pattern of regional richness peaked
around the equator and at mid-latitudes, in response to current
and past alpine area, isolation and the variation in soil pH
among regions. At the community level, species richness peaked
at mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, despite a
considerable within-region variation. Community richness was
related to macroclimate and historical predictors, with strong
effects of other spatially structured factors. Main conclusions
In contrast to the well-known latitudinal diversity gradient,
the alpine plant species richness of some temperate regions in
Eurasia was comparable to that of hyperdiverse tropical
ecosystems, such as the paramo. The species richness of these
putative hotspot regions is explained mainly by the extent of
alpine area and their glacial history, whereas community
richness depends on local environmental factors. Our results
highlight hotspots of species richness at mid-latitudes,
indicating that the diversity of alpine plants is linked to
regional idiosyncrasies and to the historical prevalence of
alpine ecosystems, rather than current macroclimatic gradients.
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