The increase in species richness from the poles to the Equator has been observed in numerous terrestrial and aquatic taxa. A number of different hypotheses have been put forward as explanations for ...

One of the most critical studies on microbial ecology is to reveal microbial turnover patterns along spatial, temporal, or environmental gradients. In such studies, it is often necessary to select ...

The geographic area hypothesis advances area as the primary cause of latitudinal gradients in diversity. The greater area of tropical zones, it suggests, stimulates speciation, inhibits extinction, ...