Climate, niche conservatism, and the global bird diversity gradient
BA Hawkins, JAF Diniz-Filho… - the american …, 2007 - journals.uchicago.edu
We tested the proposition that there are more species in the tropics because basal clades
adapted to warm paleoclimates have been lost in regions now experiencing cool climates.
Molecular phylogenies were used to classify species as “basal” and “derived” based on their
family, and their richness patterns were contrasted. Path models also evaluated
environmental predictors of richness patterns. As predicted, basal clades are more diverse
in the lowland tropics, whereas derived clades are more diverse in the extratropics and high …
adapted to warm paleoclimates have been lost in regions now experiencing cool climates.
Molecular phylogenies were used to classify species as “basal” and “derived” based on their
family, and their richness patterns were contrasted. Path models also evaluated
environmental predictors of richness patterns. As predicted, basal clades are more diverse
in the lowland tropics, whereas derived clades are more diverse in the extratropics and high …
