▪ Abstract The latitudinal gradient of decreasing richness from tropical to extratropical areas
is ecology's longest recognized pattern. Nonetheless, notable exceptions to the general …

The christening of the decline in the geographic extent of species from high to low latitudes
as Rapoport's rule was a bold step. Allowing for a variety of potentially significant …

No species occurs everywhere. Indeed, the majority are absent from most places, and where
they do occur they are usually quite rare. Gaston discusses the structure of these …

The first photographs of the Earth to be taken from outer space are said to have had a
profound influence on how humanity perceives its place in the Universe. They provided a …

The greater latitudinal extents of occurrence of species towards higher latitudes has been
attributed to the broadening of physiological tolerances with latitude as a result of increases …

Bergmann's rule is currently defined as a within‐species tendency for increasing body size
with increasing latitude or decreasing environmental temperature. This well‐known …

Nonnative species richness typically declines along environmental gradients such as
elevation. It is usually assumed that this is because few invaders possess the necessary …

Determining the causes of variation in species diversity requires linking the scales at which
variation in diversity is measured to the scales at which the processes hypothesized to affect …

Studying the distributions of plants and animals along environmental gradients can
illuminate the factors governing and maintaining species diversity. There are two general …

Aim Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (ie, β‐
diversity) is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β‐diversity …