The mid-domain effect in flowering phenology

The timing of flowering is an important driver of species distribution and community assembly patterns.However,we still have much to learn about the factors that shape flowering diversity(i.e.,number of species flowering per period) in plant communities.One potential explanation of flowering diversity is the mid-domain effect,which states that geometric constraints on species ranges within a bounded domain(space or time) will yield a mid-domain peak in diversity regardless of ecological factors.Here,we determine whether the mid-domain effect explains peak flowering time(i.e.,when most species of communities are flowering) across China.We used phenological data of 16,267 herbaceous and woody species from the provincial Flora in China and species distribution data from the Chinese Vascular Plant Distribution Database to determine relationships between the observed number of species flowering and the number of species flowering as predicted by the mid-domain effect model,as well as between three climatic variables(mean minimum monthly temperature,mean monthly precipitation,and mean monthly sunshine duration).We found that the mid-domain effect explained a significant proportion of the temporal variation in flowering diversity across all species in China.Further,the mid-domain effect explained a greater proportion of variance in flowering diversity at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes.The patterns of flowering diversity for both herbaceous and woody species were related to both the mid-domain effect and environmental variables.Our findings indicate that including geometric constraints in conjunction with abiotic and biotic predictors will improve predictions of flowering diversity patterns.

A global consistent positive effect of urban green area size on bird richness

Background: Although the species-urban green area relationship (SARu) has been analyzed worldwide, the global consistency of its parameters, such as the fit and the slope of models, remains unexplored. Moreover,the SARu can be explained by 20 different models. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate which models provide a better explanation of SARus and, focusing on the power model,to evaluate the global heterogeneity in its fit and slope. Methods: We tested the performance of multiple statistical models in accounting for the way in which species richness increases with area, and examined whether variability in model form was associated with various methodological and environmental factors. Focusing on the power model, we analyzed the global heterogeneity in the fit and slope of the models through a meta-analysis. Results: Among 20 analyzed models, the linear model provided the best fit to the most datasets, was the top ranked model according to our efficiency criterion, and was the top overall ranked model.The Kobayashi and power models were the second and third overall ranked models, respectively.The number of green areas and the minimum number of species within a green area were the only significant variables explaining the variation in model form and performance, accounting for less than 10% of the variation. Based on the power model,there was a consistent overall fit (r2=0.50) and positive slope of 0.20 for the species richness increase with area worldwide.Conclusions:The good fit of the linear model to our SARu datasets contrasts with the non-linear SAR frequently found in true and non-urban habitat island systems;however, this finding may be a result of the small sample size of many SARu datasets. The overall power model slope of 0.20 suggests low levels of isolation among urban green patches, or alternatively that habitat specialist and area sensitive species have already been extirpated from urban green areas.

Ecological predictors of extinction risks of endemic mammals of China

In this brief report, we analyzed ecological correlates of risk of extinction for mammals endemic to China using phylogenetic eigenvector methods to control for the effect of phylogenetic inertia. Extinction risks were based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature （IUCN） Red List and ecological explanatory attributes that include range size and climatic variables. When the effect of phylogenetic inertia were controlled, climate became the best predictor for quantifying and evaluating extinction risks of endemic mammals in China, accounting for 13% of the total variation. Range size seems to play a trivial role, explaining -1% of total variation; however, when non-phylogenetic variation partitioning analysis was done, the role of range size then explained 7.4% of total variation. Consequently, phylogenetic inertia plays a substantial role in increasing the explanatory power of range size on the extinction risks of mammals endemic to China. Limitations of the present study are discussed, with a focus on under-represented sampling of endemic mammalian species.

Macroecological Patterns of Climatic Niche Breadth Variation in Lacertid Lizards

Measuring climatic niche position and breadth may help to determine where species can occur over space and time. Using GIS-based and phylogenetic comparative methods, we investigated global patterns of variation in climatic niche breadth in lacertid lizards to test the following three hypotheses about climatic niche widths. First, does a species' temperature or precipitation niche breadth relate to its temperature or precipitation niche position(the mean value of annual mean temperature or annual precipitation across sampled localities in the range of each species)? Second, are there trade-offs between a species' temperature niche breadth and precipitation niche breadth? Third, does a species' temperature or precipitation niche breadth relate to altitude or latitude? We expect that:(1) species distributed in cold regions are specialized for low-temperature environments(i.e. narrow niche breadth center around low temperatures);(2) a negative relationship between species niche breadth on temperature and precipitation axes according to the tradeoff hypothesis(i.e. species that tolerate a broad range of precipitation regimes cannot also tolerate a broad range of temperatures);(3) precipitation niche breadth decreases with altitude or latitude, whereas temperature climatic niche breadth increases with altitude or latitude. Based on the analytical results we found that:(1) temperature niche breadth and position are negatively related, while precipitation niche breadth and position are positively related;(2) there is no trade-off between temperature and precipitation niche breadths; and (3) temperature niche breadth and latitude/altitude are positively related, but precipitation niche breadth and latitude/altitude are not significantly related. Our results show many similarities with previous studies on climatic niche widths reported for amphibians and lizards, which provide further evidence that such macroecological patterns of variation in climatic niche breadths may be widespread.

Co-developing an international TLS network for the 3D ecological understanding of global trees:System architecture,remote sensing models,and functional prospects

Trees are spread worldwide,as the watchmen that experience the intricate ecological effects caused by various environmental factors.In order to better understand such effects,it is preferential to achieve finely and fully mapped global trees and their environments.For this task,aerial and satellite-based remote sensing(RS)methods have been developed.However,a critical branch regarding the apparent forms of trees has significantly fallen behind due to the technical deficiency found within their globalscale surveying methods.Now,terrestrial laser scanning(TLS),a state-of-the-art RS technology,is useful for the in situ three-dimensional(3D)mapping of trees and their environments.Thus,we proposed co-developing an international TLS network as a macroscale ecotechnology to increase the 3D ecological understanding of global trees.First,we generated the system architecture and tested the available RS models to deepen its ground stakes.Then,we verified the ecotechnology regarding the identification of its theoretical feasibility,a review of its technical preparations,and a case testification based on a prototype we designed.Next,we conducted its functional prospects by previewing its scientific and technical potentials and its functional extensibility.Finally,we summarized its technical and scientific challenges,which can be used as the cutting points to promote the improvement of this technology in future studies.Overall,with the implication of establishing a novel cornerstone-sense ecotechnology,the co-development of an international TLS network can revolutionize the 3D ecological understanding of global trees and create new fields of research from 3D global tree structural ecology to 3D macroecology.

Altitudinal patterns of maximum plant height on the Tibetan Plateau

Aims Several studies have shown that plant height changes along environmen-tal gradients.However,altitudinal patterns of plant height across species are still unclear,especially in regions sensitive to climate change.As canopy height decreases dramatically near the tree line in alpine areas,we hypothesize that plant height across all species also decreases with increasing altitude,and distinct thresholds exist along this gradient.Methods Using a large dataset of maximum plant height and elevation range(400 to 6000 m a.s.l.)of 4295 angiosperms from the regional flora of the Tibetan Plateau,we regressed plant height for every 100 m belt against elevation to explore the relationships.To identify the approximate boundaries where dramatic changes in plant height occurs for herbaceous plants,shrubs,trees,woody plants and all angiosperms,we used piecewise linear regression.Phylogenetically independent contrast was used to test the potential evolutionary influences on altitudinal patterns at the family level.Important Findings Results showed that for herbaceous plants,shrubs,trees,woody plants and all angiosperms,plant height decreases significantly as altitude increases.In addition,we found that altitude,a proxy for many environmental factors,had obvious thresholds(breakpoints)dictating patterns of plant height.The results of phylogenetically independent contrast also emphasized the importance of evolution-ary history in determining the altitudinal patterns of plant height for some growth forms.Our results highlight the relative intense filter-ing effect of environmental factors in shaping patterns of functional traits and how this could vary for different ranges of environmental variables.

Long-term changes in the plant ecology of an African savanna landscape and the implications for ecosystem theory and conservation management

Background:Studies of the African savannas have used national parks to test ecological theories of natural ecosystems,including equilibrium,non-equilibrium,complex adaptive systems,and the role of top-down and bottom-up physical and biotic forces.Most such studies have excluded the impact of pastoralists in shaping grassland ecosystems and,over the last half century,the growing human impact on the world’s rangelands.The mounting human impact calls for selecting indicators and integrated monitoring methods able to track ecosystem changes and the role of natural and human agencies.Our study draws on five decades of monitoring the Amboseli landscape in southern Kenya to document the declining role of natural agencies in shaping plant ecology with rising human impact.Results:We show that plant diversity and productivity have declined,biomass turnover has increased in response to a downsizing of mean plant size,and that ecological resilience has declined with the rising probability of extreme shortfalls in pasture production.The signature of rainfall and physical agencies in driving ecosystem properties has decreased sharply with growing human impact.We compare the Amboseli findings to the long-term studies of Kruger and Serengeti national parks to show that the human influence,whether by design or default,is increasingly shaping the ecology of savanna ecosystems.We look at the findings in the larger perspective of human impact on African grasslands and the world rangelands,in general,and discuss the implications for ecosystem theory and conservation policy and management.Conclusions:The Amboseli study shows the value of using long-term integrated ecological monitoring to track the spatial and temporal changes in the species composition,structure,and function of rangeland ecosystems and the role of natural and human agencies in the process of change.The study echoes the widespread changes underway across African savannas and world’s rangelands,concluding that some level of ecosystem management is needed to prevent land degradation and the erosion of ecological function,services,and resilience.Despite the weak application of ecological theory to conservation management,a plant trait-based approach is shown to be useful in explaining the macroecological changes underway.

Detecting trends in body size: empirical and statistical requirements for intraspecific analyses

Attributing biological explanations to observed ecogeographical and ecological patterns require eliminating potential statistical and sampling artifacts as alternative explanations of the observed patterns.Here,we assess the role of sample size,statistical power,and geographic inclusivity on the general validity and statistical significance of relationships between body size and latitude for 3 well-studied species of turtles.We extend those analyses to emphasize the importance of using statistically robust data in determining macroecological patterns.We examined intraspecific trends in body size with latitude in Chelydra serpentina,Chrysemys picta,and Trachemys scripts using Pearson's correlations,diagnostic tests for influential points,and resampling.Existing data were insufficient to ascertain a latitudinal trend in body size for C.serpentina or T.scripts.There was a significant relationship for C.picta,however,resampling analyses show that,on average,16 of the 23 available independent populations were needed to demonstrate a significant relationship and that at least 20 of 23 populations were required to obtain a statistically powerful correlation between body size and latitude.Furthermore,restricting the latitudes of populations resampled shows that body size trends of C.picta were largely due to leveraging effects of populations at the edge of the species range.Our results suggest that broad inferences regarding ecological trends in body size should be made with caution until underlying(intraspecific)patterns in body size can be statistically and conclusively demonstrated.

Using potential distributions to explore environmental correlates of bat species richness in southern Africa： Effects of model selection and taxonomy

We tested the prediction that at coarse spatial scales, variables associated with climate, energy, and productivity hy- potheses should be better predictor（s） of bat species richness than those associated with environmental heterogeneity. Distribution ranges of 64 bat species were estimated with niche-based models informed by 3629 verified museum specimens. The influence of environmental correlates on bat richness was assessed using ordinary least squares regression （OLS）, simultaneous autoregressive models （SAR）, conditional autoregressive models （CAR）, spatial eigenvector-based filtering models （SEVM）, and Classification and Regression Trees （CART）. To test the assumption of stationarity, Geographically Weighted Regression （GWR） was used. Bat species richness was highest in the eastern parts of southern Africa, particularly in central Zimbabwe and along the western border of Mozambique. We found support for the predictions of both the habitat heterogeneity and climate/productivity/energy hypothe- ses, and as we expected, support varied among bat families and model selection. Richness patterns and predictors of Miniopteridae and Pteropodidae clearly differed from those of other bat families. Altitude range was the only independent variable that was sig- nificant in all models and it was most often the best predictor of bat richness. Standard coefficients of SAR and CAR models were similar to those of OLS models, while those of SEVM models differed. Although GWR indicated that the assumption of stationa- rity was violated, the CART analysis corroborated the findings of the curve-fitting models. Our results identify where additional data on current species ranges, and future conservation action and ecological work are needed.

Collective Computation,Information Flow,and the Emergence of Hunter-Gatherer Small-Worlds

Two key features of human sociality are anatomically complex brains with neuron-dense cerebral cortices,and the propensity to form complex social networks with non-kin.Complex brains and complex social networks facilitate flows of fitness-enhancing energy and information at multiple scales of social organization.Here,we consider how these flows interact to shape the emergence of macroscopic regularities in hunter-gatherer macroecology relative to other mammals and non-human primates.Collective computation is the processing of information by complex adaptive systems to generate inferences in order to solve adaptive problems.In hunter-gatherer societies the adaptive problem is to resolve uncertainty in generative models used to predict complex environments in order to maximize inclusive fitness.The macroecological solution is to link complex brains in social networks to form collective brains that perform collective computations.By developing theory and analyzing data,the author shows hunter-gatherers bands of~16 people,or~4 co-residing families,form the largest collective brains of any social mammal.Moreover,because individuals,families,and bands interact at multiple time scales,these fission-fusion dynamics lead to the emergence of the macroscopic regularities in hunter-gatherer macroecology we observe in cross-cultural data.These results show how computation is distributed across spatially-extended social networks forming decentralized knowledge systems characteristic of hunter-gatherer societies.The flow of information at scales far beyond daily interactions leads to the emergence of small-worlds where highly clustered local interactions are embedded within much larger,but sparsely connected multilevel metapopulations.