Higher-order interactions enhance the latitudinal tree diversity gradient
Abstract
Abstract The global decrease in species diversity from low to high latitudes is among the most robust biogeographic patterns 1,2 . There is continuing debate on the contribution of conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) to the latitudinal diversity gradient evident for trees 3,4 . Theory suggests that CNDD based on pairwise interactions alone is not sufficient to explain the intricacies of diverse communities, because higher-order interactions (HOIs) may greatly modify these interactions 5,6 . However, there has been a lack of empirical studies investigating how HOIs intertwine with pairwise interactions and how they may contribute to the latitudinal tree diversity gradient. Here we examined both pairwise interactions and HOIs across 32 large permanent forest plots, most in the northern hemisphere. We detected evidence of HOIs in 40% of the 1,543 species–plot combinations for tree growth, and 23% of the 1,340 such combinations for tree survival, with the strength of these interactions declining with latitude. HOIs were found to benefit rare species but disadvantage common species, suggesting a potential mechanism promoting species diversity. This stabilizing effect weakened towards higher latitudes, consistent with the latitudinal tree diversity gradient. Our findings reveal an important interplay between pairwise interactions and HOIs in promoting the latitudinal tree diversity gradient and help to clarify the contribution of CNDD to this biogeographic pattern.
Article Details
Authors (71)
Yuanzhi Li
Junli Xiao
Yuan Jiang
Stuart Joseph Wright
Margaret M. Mayfield
Oscar Godoy
Alfonso Alonso
Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira
Jennifer Baltzer
Joseph D. Birch
Pulchérie Bissiengou
Norman A. Bourg
Warren Brockelman
David F. R. P. Burslem
Min Cao
Keith Clay
Stuart J. Davies
Qingqing Du
Sisira Ediriweera
Anna Feistner
Edwino S. Fernando
Gregory S. Gilbert
Zhanqing Hao
Jan Holík
Mingxi Jiang
Guangze Jin
Daniel J. Johnson
Alexander S. Jones
Kamil Král
Andrew J. Larson
Buhang Li
Juyu Lian
Luxiang Lin
Feng Liu
Yu Liu
Zhili Liu
James A. Lutz
Keping Ma
Sean M. McMahon
William McShea
Hervé Roland Memiaghe
Xiangcheng Mi
Jonathan A. Myers
Musalmah Nasardin
Anuttara Nathalang
Michael J. O’Brien
Nestor Laurier Engone Obiang
Geoffrey Parker
Richard P. Phillips
Xiujuan Qiao
Haibao Ren
Glen Reynolds
Lillian Jennifer V. Rodriguez
Pavel Šamonil
Guochun Shen
Zufei Shu
Jessica Shue
Mark E. Swanson
Jill Thompson
María Uriarte
Xihua Wang
Xugao Wang
Youshi Wang
Tze Leong Yao
Wanhui Ye
Mingjian Yu
Minhua Zhang
Yan Zhu
Jess Zimmerman
Fangliang He
Chengjin Chu