Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and coexistence in forests.

ABSTRACT: The search for simple principles that underlie the spatial structure and dynamics of plant communities is a long-standing challenge in ecology^1-6. In particular, the relationship between species coexistence and the spatial distribution of plants is challenging to resolve in species-rich communities^7-9. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of 720 tree species in 21 large forest plots and their consequences for species coexistence. We show that species with low abundance tend to be more spatially aggregated than more abundant species. Moreover, there is a latitudinal gradient in the strength of this negative aggregation-abundance relationship that increases from tropical to temperate forests. We suggest, in line with recent work¹⁰,

SUBMITTER: Wiegand T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12018458 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature