Weak latitudinal gradients in insect herbivory for dominant rangeland grasses of North America

Is there more insect folivory in warmer temperate climates? A latitudinal comparison of insect folivory in eastern North America

1. It is generally believed that warmer climate forests suffer more herbivory, as a proportion of leaf area, than cooler climate forests. However, standardized studies using the same methodology have rarely been performed. 2. We carried out a study on scattered forest-edge populations of four widespread tree species (Quercus alba,Acer rubrum, Fagus grandifolia and Liquidambar styraciflua) spann...

Causes behind insect folivory patterns in latitudinal gradients

1.Adams and Zhang recently published one of the best studies so far of patterns of insect folivory along a latitudinal (climatic) gradient. They show clear negative trends in foliage loss in relation to temperature for certain groups of insect herbivores.2.Although their suggestion that the plant-herbivore interaction may be more important in cooler climates could be valid, they did not bring u...

Mean Annual Precipitation Explains Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cenozoic Mammal Beta Diversity and Latitudinal Diversity Gradients in North America

Spatial diversity patterns are thought to be driven by climate-mediated processes. However, temporal patterns of community composition remain poorly studied. We provide two complementary analyses of North American mammal diversity, using (i) a paleontological dataset (2077 localities with 2493 taxon occurrences) spanning 21 discrete subdivisions of the Cenozoic based on North American Land Mamm...

Eocene-Oligocene Latitudinal Climate Gradients in North America Inferred from Stable Isotope Ratios in Perissodactyl Tooth Enamel

Latitudinal gradients in species diversity

The increase in species richness or biodiversity that occurs from the poles to the tropics, often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity, is one of the most widely recognized patterns in ecology. Put another way, localities at lower latitudes generally have more species than localities at higher latitudes. Explaining the latitudinal diversity gradient is one of the great c...