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A biome-dependent distribution gradient of tree species range edges is strongly dictated by climate spatial heterogeneity

Nature Plants volume 9, pages 544–553 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Understanding the causes of the arrest of species distributions has been a fundamental question in ecology and evolution. These questions are of particular interest for trees owing to their long lifespan and sessile nature. A surge in data availability evokes a macro-ecological analysis to determine the underlying forces limiting distributions. Here we analyse the spatial distribution of >3,600 major tree species to determine geographical areas of range-edge hotspots and find drivers for their arrest. We confirmed biome edges to be strong delineators of distributions. Importantly, we identified a stronger contribution of temperate than tropical biomes to range edges, adding strength to the notion that tropical areas are centres of radiation. We subsequently identified a strong association of range-edge hotspots with steep spatial climatic gradients. We linked spatial and temporal homogeneity and high potential evapotranspiration in the tropics as the strongest predictors of this phenomenon. We propose that the poleward migration of species in light of climate change might be hindered because of steep climatic gradients.

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Fig. 1: Range-edge hotspots.
Fig. 2: REH at intersections between biomes.
Fig. 3: Climatic predictors of RE formation.

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Data availability

The occurrence points used from GBIF can be found on the GBIF webpage (https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ajen6k). Polygons generated from occurrence points are provided in the public Zenodo repository 10.5281/zenodo.7613535. Biome polygons were obtained from the WWF webpage (http://www.worldwildlife.org/). Bioclimatic attributes were downloaded from WorldClim Global Climate Data58. ENVIREM variables were downloaded from their webpage (https://envirem.github.io/).

Code availability

Custom codes related to this paper can be found in a GitHub repository at https://github.com/dlernerg/Global-Range-edges

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Acknowledgements

T.K. thanks the Edith and Nathan Goldenberg Career Development Chair; Mary and Tom Beck-Canadian Center for Alternative Energy Research; Larson Charitable Foundation New Scientist Fund; Yotam Project; Dana and Yossie Hollander; the Estate of Emile Mimran; and the Estate of Helen Nichunsky. D.L. was supported by the Sustainability and Energy Research Initiative PhD grant. M.F.M. and J.P. were supported by grants PID2019-110521GB-I00 and TED2021-132627B-I00 funded by Spain, Ministry for Science and Innovation (MCIN), AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the NextGeneration EU/PRTR (Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan). M.F.M. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from ‘la Caixa’ Foundation (ID 100010434), code: LCF/BQ/PI21/11830010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    David Lerner, Stav Livne-Luzon & Tamir Klein

  2. CREAF, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Spain

    Marcos Fernández Martínez & Josep Peñuelas

  3. School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Jonathan Belmaker

  4. Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Jonathan Belmaker

  5. CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Bellaterra, Spain

    Josep Peñuelas

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D.L., J.B. and T.K. designed the research. D.L. performed the research and analysed the data. M.F.M., J.P., T.K., J.B. and S.L.-L. provided scientific advice. M.F.M. and J.B. advised on statistical aspects. D.L. wrote the paper with special contributions from J.P., J.B., M.F.M. and T.K.

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Correspondence to David Lerner.

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Nature Plants thanks Giacomo Puglielli and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Lerner, D., Martínez, M.F., Livne-Luzon, S. et al. A biome-dependent distribution gradient of tree species range edges is strongly dictated by climate spatial heterogeneity. Nat. Plants 9, 544–553 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01369-1

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