Functional traits reveal the expansion and packing of ecological niche space underlying an elevational diversity gradient in passerine birds.

ABSTRACT: Variation in species richness across environmental gradients may be associated with an expanded volume or increased packing of ecological niche space. However, the relative importance of these alternative scenarios remains unknown, largely because standardized information on functional traits and their ecological relevance is lacking for major diversity gradients. Here, we combine data on morphological and ecological traits for 523 species of passerine birds distributed across an Andes-to-Amazon elevation gradient. We show that morphological traits capture substantial variation in species dietary (75%) and foraging niches (60%) when multiple independent trait dimensions are considered. Having established these relationships, we show that the 14-fold increase in species richness towards the

SUBMITTER: Pigot AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4721085 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature