Energy and large-scale patterns of animal-and plant-species richness
DJ Currie - The American Naturalist, 1991 - journals.uchicago.edu
Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the great variation among regions in
species richness. These were tested by first examining patterns of species richness of birds,
mammals, amphibians, and reptiles in 336 quadrats covering North America. These patterns
were then compared with the regional variation of 21 descriptors of the environment
suggested by the hypotheses. I found that, in the four vertebrate classes studied, 80%-93%
of the variability in species richness could be statistically explained by a monotonically …
species richness. These were tested by first examining patterns of species richness of birds,
mammals, amphibians, and reptiles in 336 quadrats covering North America. These patterns
were then compared with the regional variation of 21 descriptors of the environment
suggested by the hypotheses. I found that, in the four vertebrate classes studied, 80%-93%
of the variability in species richness could be statistically explained by a monotonically …
