Abundant‐core thinking clarifies exceptions to the abundant‐center distribution pattern

作者：Trevor S. Fristoe, Bruno Vilela, James H. Brown, Carlos A. Botero · 发表于：Ecography · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1111/ecog.06365 · 被引用次数：40 · 研究领域：Species Distribution and Climate Change、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Understanding variation in abundance within species' ranges is fundamental for ecological and evolutionary theory and applied conservation science. The abundant‐center model provides a general hypothesis based on basic ecological principles and macroscale biogeographic patterns: abundance should peak near the center of a species' range, where environmental conditions are most favorable, and decline towards the periphery. Despite longstanding influence in ecological thinking, consistent support for the ubiquity of abundant‐center distributions remains elusive, and recent assessments have questioned the value of this paradigm altogether. We suggest that revisiting the simplifying assumptions that underly the model provides a productive path forward by clarifying predictions and revealing expectations for alternative distribution patterns. Towards this end, we use standardized abundance surveys of North American birds to reassess the prevalence of abundant‐center distributions in geographic and climate space, test whether deviations are associated with predictable violations of assumptions, and provide more robust expectations. After accounting for common methodological pitfalls, we find that geographic centrality is generally indicative of centrality in climate space (confirming a key model assumption) and that abundant‐center distributions occurred in 71% of passerines. To better understand exceptions, we introduce the concept of abundant‐core distributions, of which the abund...