TY - JOUR
T1 - Moving beyond assumptions to understand abundance distributions across the ranges of species
AU - Sagarin, Raphael D.
AU - Gaines, Steven D.
AU - Gaylord, Brian
PY - 2006/9/1
Y1 - 2006/9/1
N2 - The assumption that species are most abundant in the center of their range and decline in abundance toward the range edges has a long history in the ecological literature. This assumption has driven basic and applied ecological and evolutionary hypotheses about the causes of species range limits and their responses to climate change. Here, we review recent studies that are taking biogeographical ecology beyond previously held assumptions by observing populations in the field across large parts of the species range. When these studies combine data on abundance, demographics, organismal physiology, genetics and physical factors, they provide a promising approach for teasing out ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of the patterns and processes underlying species ranges.
AB - The assumption that species are most abundant in the center of their range and decline in abundance toward the range edges has a long history in the ecological literature. This assumption has driven basic and applied ecological and evolutionary hypotheses about the causes of species range limits and their responses to climate change. Here, we review recent studies that are taking biogeographical ecology beyond previously held assumptions by observing populations in the field across large parts of the species range. When these studies combine data on abundance, demographics, organismal physiology, genetics and physical factors, they provide a promising approach for teasing out ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of the patterns and processes underlying species ranges.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tree.2006.06.008
DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2006.06.008
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16815588
AN - SCOPUS:33747422123
VL - 21
SP - 524
EP - 530
JO - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
JF - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
SN - 0169-5347
IS - 9
ER -