Data from: Global geographic patterns in the colours and sizes of animal‐dispersed fruits

Aim. Fruit colours attract animal seed dispersers, yet the causes of fruit
colour diversity remain controversial. The lack of knowledge of
large-scale spatial patterns in fruit colours has limited our ability to
formulate and test alternative hypotheses to explain fruit colour, fruit
size, and fruit colour diversity. We describe spatial (especially
latitudinal) variation in fruit colour, colour diversity, and length, and
test for correlations between fruit colour, length, and plant habit.
Location. Global. Time period. Present-day. Major taxa studied. Seed
plants. Methods. We assembled a database of fruit traits for 13,178
fleshy-fruited plant species spanning 136 sites around the world. To
assess whether fruit colour categories correspond with spectral
reflectances, we tested for clustering of hue, chroma, and saturation for
236 species for which we had reflectance data. We then quantified
latitudinal gradients in fruit colour, fruit length, and fruit colour
diversity while controlling for the effects of plant habit, and whether
colour categories varied with respect to average fruit size. Results.
Colour categories corresponded well with reflectance data. The tropics
show high colour diversity, while red fruits progressively constitute a
higher proportion of the fleshy-fruited plant community towards high
latitudes. All mammal-associated colours (green, orange, brown, and
yellow) are more common in the tropics than at high latitudes. Fruit
length also increases towards the tropics. Main conclusions. Tropical
communities tend to have diverse fruit colours, including many
mammal-associated fruit colours, while high latitude communities contain a
higher percentage of red-fruited species. The correlation between colour
and size is strong, and some latitudinal patterns may be partly driven by
changes in fruit size. Differences in geography and in the history of
plant lineages in the southern versus the northern hemisphere may help to
explain some biogeographic patterns, but alternative hypotheses related to
fruit defence, development, and metabolic costs are plausible.