Panter Connor T, Kambach Stephan, Bachman Steven P, Baines Oliver, Bruelheide Helge, Sporbert Maria, Hähn Georg J A, Field Richard, Schrodt Franziska
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 2;16(1):8205. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63566-0.
The 'abundant-centre' hypothesis posits that a species' abundance is highest at its range centre and declines towards its range edge. Recently, the hypothesis has been much debated, with supporting empirical evidence remaining limited. Here, we test the hypothesis on 3660 species using 5,703,589 abundance observations. We summarise species-level patterns and test the effects of dispersal-related species traits and phylogeny on abundance-distance relationships. Support for the hypothesis is dependent on taxonomic group, with abundant-centre patterns being more pronounced for plants but non-significant when summarised across all animals. Dispersal capability does not explain abundance-distance relationships in animals but likely explains abundance patterns in non-woody plants. Phylogeny improves models of abundance-distance patterns for plants but not for animals. Despite this, controlling for phylogeny yields non-significant group-level results for plants, suggesting that only certain, phylogenetically clustered plant groups may conform to abundant-centre patterns. Overall, we demonstrate that abundant-centre patterns are not a general ecological phenomenon; they tend to not apply to animals but can manifest in certain plant groups, depending on dispersal capabilities and evolutionary histories. Leveraging species' traits that account for dispersal improves models of abundant-centre patterns across geographic space.
“丰富中心”假说认为，一个物种的丰富度在其分布范围中心最高，并向其分布范围边缘递减。最近，该假说备受争议，支持它的实证证据仍然有限。在此，我们利用5703589个丰富度观测数据，对3660个物种检验了这一假说。我们总结了物种水平的模式，并检验了与扩散相关的物种特征和系统发育对丰富度-距离关系的影响。对该假说的支持取决于分类类群，丰富中心模式在植物中更为明显，但在对所有动物进行汇总时则不显著。扩散能力并不能解释动物的丰富度-距离关系，但可能解释非木本植物的丰富度模式。系统发育改善了植物丰富度-距离模式的模型，但对动物则不然。尽管如此，对系统发育进行控制后，植物在类群水平上的结果并不显著，这表明只有某些系统发育聚类的植物类群可能符合丰富中心模式。总体而言，我们证明丰富中心模式并非普遍的生态现象；它们往往不适用于动物，但在某些植物类群中可能会出现，这取决于扩散能力和进化历史。利用能够解释扩散的物种特征，可以改善地理空间中丰富中心模式的模型。
