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Latitudinal gradients in abundance, and the causes of rarity in the tropics: a test using Australian honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae)

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Abstract

Several studies have uncovered interspecific latitudinal gradients in abundance (population density) such that tropical species tend to be, on average, less abundant than species at higher latitudes. The causes of this relationship remain poorly studied, in contrast to the relative wealth of literature examining the relationship to latitude of other variables such as range size and body mass. We used a cross-species phylogenetic comparative approach and a spatial approach to examine three potential determining factors (distribution, reproductive output and climate) that might explain why abundance correlates with latitude, using data from 54 species of honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) in woodland environments in eastern Australia. There is a strong positive correlation between mean abundance and latitude in these birds. Reproductive output (clutch size) was positively linked to both abundance and latitude, but partial correlation analysis revealed that clutch size is not related to abundance once the effects of latitude are removed. A subsequent multiple regression model that also considered range size, clutch size and body mass showed that latitude is the only strong predictor of abundance in honeyeaters. In the separate spatial analysis, the climatic variables that we considered (temperature, rainfall and seasonality) were all strongly linked to latitude, but none served as a better predictor of abundance than latitude per se, either individually or collectively. The most intriguing result of our analyses was that the cross-species latitudinal pattern in abundance was not evident within species. This suggests an intrinsic cause of the pattern of ‘rarity in the tropics’ in Australian honeyeaters. We suggest that evolutionary age may provide a key to understanding patterns of abundance in these birds.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council. We thank Ben Moore, Diane Rowe, Janette Norman, Frank Rheindt, Peter Dunn, Michael Kearney and the Animal Behaviour and Evolution Group at the University of Melbourne for advice and feedback. The comments of Bradford Hawkins and an anonymous reviewer helped improve the manuscript.

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  1. Matthew R. E. Symonds

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Matthew R. E. Symonds & Christopher N. Johnson

  2. Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Les Christidis

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  1. Matthew R. E. Symonds
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  2. Les Christidis
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Correspondence to Matthew R. E. Symonds.

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Communicated by Katrin Böhning-Gaese

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Symonds, M.R.E., Christidis, L. & Johnson, C.N. Latitudinal gradients in abundance, and the causes of rarity in the tropics: a test using Australian honeyeaters (Aves: Meliphagidae). Oecologia 149, 406–417 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0456-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0456-6

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