Relationships between resource availability and elevation vary between metrics creating gradients of nutritional complexity.

ABSTRACT: Plant and animal community composition changes at higher elevations on mountains. Plant and animal species richness generally declines with elevation, but the shape of the relationship differs between taxa. There are several proposed mechanisms, including the productivity hypotheses; that declines in available plant biomass confers fewer resources to consumers, thus supporting fewer species. We investigated resource availability as we ascended three aspects of Helvellyn mountain, UK, measuring several plant nutritive metrics, plant species richness and biomass. We observed a linear decline in plant species richness as we ascended the mountain but there was a unimodal relationship between plant biomass and elevation. Generally, the highest biomass values at mid-elevations were associated wi

SUBMITTER: Lee MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7882561 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature