Am Nat. 2020 Dec;196(6):E160-E166. doi: 10.1086/711415. Epub 2020 Oct 20.
AbstractAre biotic interactions stronger in the tropics? Here, we investigate nest predation in birds, a canonical example of a strong tropical biotic interaction. Counter to expectations, daily rates of nest predation vary minimally with latitude. However, life-history traits that influence nest predation have diverged between latitudes. For example, tropical species have evolved a longer average nesting period, which is associated with reduced rates of nest attendance by parents. Daily nest mortality declines with nesting period length within regions, but tropical species have a higher intercept. Consequently, for the same nesting period length, tropical species experience higher daily nest predation rates than temperate species. The implication of this analysis is that the evolved difference in nesting period length between latitudes produces a flatter latitudinal gradient in daily nest predation than would otherwise be predicted. We propose that adaptation may frequently dampen geographic patterns in interaction rates.
摘要生物相互作用在热带地区更强吗？在这里，我们研究了鸟类的巢捕食，这是一个强大的热带生物相互作用的典型例子。与预期相反，巢捕食的日发生率与纬度的变化很小。然而，影响巢捕食的生活史特征在纬度上已经出现了分歧。例如，热带物种已经进化出了更长的平均筑巢期，这与亲鸟减少巢的栖息有关。在区域内，每日巢死亡率随筑巢期长度的增加而下降，但热带物种的截距较高。因此，对于相同的筑巢期长度，热带物种的每日巢捕食率高于温带物种。这一分析的含义是，纬度间筑巢期长度的进化差异产生了比预期更平坦的每日巢捕食纬度梯度。我们提出，适应可能经常会抑制相互作用速率的地理模式。
