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

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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

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

Nathan J. B. Kraft

1Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.

2Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

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For correspondence: nkraft@biodiversity.ubc.ca

Liza S. Comita

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.

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Jonathan M. Chase

5Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

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Nathan J. Sanders

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.

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Nathan G. Swenson

8Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

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Thomas O. Crist

9Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, and Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.

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James C. Stegen

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.

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Mark Vellend

1Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada.

12Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada.

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Brad Boyle

13Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85719, USA.

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Marti J. Anderson

14New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Albany Campus, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.

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Howard V. Cornell

15Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

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Kendi F. Davies

16Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

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Amy L. Freestone

17Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.

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Brian D. Inouye

18Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306–4295, USA.

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Susan P. Harrison

15Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

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Jonathan A. Myers

5Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

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