Body size and trophic structure explain global asymmetric response of tetrapod diversity to climate effects.

ABSTRACT: Although climate-based hypotheses are widely used to explain large-scale diversity patterns, they fall short of explaining the spatial variation among taxonomic groups. Integrating food web and metabolic theories into macroecology is a promising step forward, as they allow including explicit taxon-specific traits that can potentially mediate the relationship between climate and diversity. Our investigation focuses on the role of body size and trophic structure in mediating the influence of contemporary climate and historical climate change on global tetrapods species richness. We used piecewise structural equation modeling to assess the direct effects of contemporary climate and climate instability of species richness and the indirect effects of climate on tetrapod richness mediated by com

SUBMITTER: Gusmao RAF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10877556 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature