Humboldt’s enigma: What causes global patterns of mountain biodiversity?
University of Copenhagen · University of Southern Denmark · +5 more institutions
Abstract
Mountains contribute disproportionately to the terrestrial biodiversity of Earth, especially in the tropics, where they host hotspots of extraordinary and puzzling richness. With about 25% of all land area, mountain regions are home to more than 85% of the world's species of amphibians, birds, and mammals, many entirely restricted to mountains. Biodiversity varies markedly among these regions. Together with the extreme species richness of some tropical mountains, this variation has proven challenging to explain under traditional climatic hypotheses. However, the complex climatic characteristics of rugged mountain regions differ fundamentally from those of lowland regions, likely playing a key role in…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 66.11
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 44
Authors
9- CRCarsten RahbekCorresponding
University of Copenhagen, University of Southern Denmark, Imperial College London
- MKMichael K. BorregaardCorresponding
University of Copenhagen
- RKRobert K. Colwell
University of Copenhagen, University of Connecticut, Museum of Boulder
- BDBo Dalsgaard
University of Copenhagen
- BGBen G. Holt
University of Copenhagen
Topics & keywords
- Biodiversity
- Species richness
- Geography
- Tropics
- Ecology
- Biodiversity hotspot
- Global biodiversity
- Climate change