The impact of seasonality on niche breadth, distribution range and species richness: a theoretical exploration of Janzen's hypothesis.

ABSTRACT: Being invoked as one of the candidate mechanisms for the latitudinal patterns in biodiversity, Janzen's hypothesis states that the limited seasonal temperature variation in the tropics generates greater temperature stratification across elevations, which makes tropical species adapted to narrower ranges of temperatures and have lower effective dispersal across elevations than species in temperate regions. Numerous empirical studies have documented latitudinal patterns in species elevational ranges and thermal niche breadths that are consistent with the hypothesis, but the theoretical underpinnings remain unclear. This study presents the first mathematical model to examine the evolutionary processes that could back up Janzen's hypothesis and assess the effectiveness of limited seasonal temp

SUBMITTER: Hua X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4971195 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature