Latitudinal difference in biodiversity caused by higher tropical rate of increase
Author
Buzas, Martin A.; Collins, Laurel S.; Culver, Stephen J.
Abstract
Tropical diversity has generally exceeded temperate diversity in the present and at points in the past, but whether measured differences have remained relatively constant through time has been unknown. Here we examine tropical vs. temperate diversities from the Neogene to Recent using the within-habitat diversity measure Fisher’s alpha of Cenozoic benthic foraminifera from the temperate Central Atlantic Coastal Plain and the tropical Central American Isthmus. During the Neogene, the mean value of alpha at temperate latitudes increased 1.4 times or 40%, whereas in the tropics it increased 2.1 times or 106%. Thus, while both areas exhibit an increase of diversity with time, past differences in the rate of increase have generated a more pronounced gradient today (164%) than existed in the Miocene (80%). These data disagree with the suggestion that the world reached an equilibrium number of species during the Paleozoic and demonstrate the need to consider both temperate and tropical components in global diversity assessments.
Subject
Date
2002-06-11
Citation:
APA:
Buzas, Martin A., & Collins, Laurel S., & Culver, Stephen J.. (June 2002).
Latitudinal difference in biodiversity caused by higher tropical rate of increase.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA,
99(12),
7841-
7843. Retrieved from
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/2992
MLA:
Buzas, Martin A., and Collins, Laurel S., and Culver, Stephen J..
"Latitudinal difference in biodiversity caused by higher tropical rate of increase". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
99:12. (7841-7843),
June 2002.
December 10, 2023.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/2992.
Chicago:
Buzas, Martin A. and Collins, Laurel S. and Culver, Stephen J.,
"Latitudinal difference in biodiversity caused by higher tropical rate of increase," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99, no.
12 (June 2002),
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/2992 (accessed
December 10, 2023).
AMA:
Buzas, Martin A., Collins, Laurel S., Culver, Stephen J..
Latitudinal difference in biodiversity caused by higher tropical rate of increase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.
June 2002;
99(12):
7841-7843.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/2992. Accessed
December 10, 2023.
Collections
Publisher
East Carolina University