Assessment on latitudinal tree species richness using environmental factors in the southeastern United States.

ABSTRACT: The southeastern region of the United States exhibits an unusual trend of decreasing tree species richness (TSR) from higher to lower latitudes over the Florida peninsula. This trend contradicts the widely marked latitudinal diversity gradient where species richness is highest in tropical zones and decreases towards extratropical regions. This study aims to assess the environmental factors that prompt this atypical inverse latitudinal gradient seen in TSR using the USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database. Fifteen variables under four categories of forested area, groundwater, soil properties, and climate groups were examined to model TSR in the region. Generalized linear models (GLMs) with Poisson distributions first assessed individual variables to test explanato

SUBMITTER: Kwon Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6475148 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature