Disentangling the Drivers of β Diversity Along Latitudinal and Elevational Gradients

Nathan J. B. Kraft; Liza S. Comita; Jonathan M. Chase; Nathan J. Sanders; Nathan G. Swenson; Thomas O. Crist; James C. Stegen; Mark Vellend; Brad Boyle; Marti J. Anderson; Howard V. Cornell; Kendi F. Davies; Amy L. Freestone; Brian D. Inouye; Susan P. Harrison; Jonathan A. Myers

doi:10.1126/science.1208584

Report

Disentangling the Drivers of β Diversity Along Latitudinal and Elevational Gradients

Nathan J. B. Kraft¹,²,*,
Liza S. Comita³,⁴,
Jonathan M. Chase⁵,
Nathan J. Sanders⁶,⁷,
Nathan G. Swenson⁸,
Thomas O. Crist⁹,
James C. Stegen¹⁰,¹¹,
Mark Vellend¹,¹²,
Brad Boyle¹³,
Marti J. Anderson¹⁴,
Howard V. Cornell¹⁵,
Kendi F. Davies¹⁶,
Amy L. Freestone¹⁷,
Brian D. Inouye¹⁸,
Susan P. Harrison¹⁵,
Jonathan A. Myers⁵

¹Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.
²Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
³National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.
⁴Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa Ancón, Republic of Panamá.
⁵Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
⁶Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 569 Dabney Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
⁷Center of Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark.
⁸Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
⁹Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, and Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
¹⁰Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
¹¹Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate, Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Lab, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
¹²Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada.
¹³Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA.
¹⁴New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Albany Campus, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.
¹⁵Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
¹⁶Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
¹⁷Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
¹⁸Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–4295, USA.

↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nkraft{at}biodiversity.ubc.ca

See allHide authors and affiliations

Science 23 Sep 2011:
Vol. 333, Issue 6050, pp. 1755-1758
DOI: 10.1126/science.1208584

Nathan J. B. Kraft

Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site
For correspondence: nkraft@biodiversity.ubc.ca

Liza S. Comita

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA.Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa Ancón, Republic of Panamá.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Jonathan M. Chase

Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Nathan J. Sanders

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 569 Dabney Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.Center of Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Nathan G. Swenson

Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Thomas O. Crist

Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, and Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

James C. Stegen

Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate, Biological Sciences Division, Pacific Northwest National Lab, Richland, WA 99352, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Mark Vellend

Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Brad Boyle

Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Marti J. Anderson

New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Albany Campus, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Howard V. Cornell

Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Kendi F. Davies

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Amy L. Freestone

Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Brian D. Inouye

Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–4295, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Susan P. Harrison

Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Jonathan A. Myers

Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

Find this author on Google Scholar
Find this author on PubMed
Search for this author on this site

Article
Figures & Data
Info & Metrics
eLetters
PDF

eLetters is an online forum for ongoing peer review. Submission of eLetters are open to all. eLetters are not edited, proofread, or indexed. Please read our Terms of Service before submitting your own eLetter.

Submit a Response to This Article

Compose eLetter

Title

Contents

More information about text formats

Plain text

Plain text
No HTML tags allowed.
Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Author Information

Contributors
First name and middle name First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'. Last Name Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'. Email Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com Role / Occupation Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'. Affiliation Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.

Statement of Competing Interests

Competing interests?

Yes

Please describe the competing interests

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

What code is in the image? Enter the characters shown in the image.

Vertical Tabs

No eLetters have been published for this article.

View Full Text

Disentangling the Drivers of β Diversity Along Latitudinal and Elevational Gradients

Plain text

Vertical Tabs

Science

Article Tools