Strong evidence for latitudinal diversity gradient in mosses across the world  

作　　者：Hong Qian Zun Dai Jian Wang 

机构地区：[1]Research and Collections Center,Illinois State Museum,1011 East Ash Street,Springfield,IL 62703,USA [2]Bryology Laboratory,School of Life Sciences,East China Normal University,Shanghai 200241,China [3]Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming(SIEC),3663 Northern Zhongshan Road,Shanghai 200062,China

出　　处：《Plant Diversity》2024年第4期537-541,共5页植物多样性（英文版）

摘　　要：Species richness generally decreases with increasing latitude,a biodiversity gradient that has long been considered as one of the few laws in ecology.This latitudinal diversity gradient has been observed in many major groups of organisms.In plants,the latitudinal diversity gradient has been observed in vascular plants,angiosperms,ferns,and liverworts.However,a conspicuous latitudinal diversity gradient in mosses at a global or continental scale has not been observed until now.Here,we analyze a comprehensive data set including moss species in each band of 20° in latitude worldwide.Our results show that moss species richness decreases strongly with increasing latitude,regardless of whether the globe is considered as a whole or different longitudinal segments(e.g.,Old World versus New World) are considered separately.This result holds when variation in area size among latitudinal bands is taken into account.Pearson's correlation coefficient between latitude and species richness is-0.99 for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.Because bryophytes are an extant lineage of early land plants and because mosses not only include most of extant species of bryophytes but also are important constituents of most terrestrial ecosystems,understanding geographic patterns of mosses is particularly important The finding of our study fills a critical knowledge gap.

关 键 词：BRYOPHYTE Latitudinal diversity gradient MOSS Species density Species diversity 

分 类 号：Q948[生物学—植物学]