The proportion of low abundance species is a key predictor of plant β-diversity across the latitudinal gradient

The diversity of life displays very strong patterns of disparity across the Earth. Beta (β)-diversity (species compositional differences among sites) of woody plants, for instance, has usually been documented to decline with increasing latitude. Understanding these patterns, however, remains a grand challenge in ecology and evolution.
We develop a mathematical model to explain patterns of β-diversity across multiple landscapes. The model effectively predicts β-diversity in simulated and natural communities, regardless of the types of species abundance distributions.
Our model provides the novel insight that the proportion of species in the lowest abundance category (PL), which represents the share of relatively rare species in the regional species pool, is the key predictor of plant β-diversity. By applying the model to global forest inventories sampled from 40.7° S to 60.7° N, we find that PL explains nearly 85% of the variation in plant β-diversity along the global latitudinal gradien..., , , # The proportion of low abundance species is a key predictor of plant β-diversity across the latitudinal gradient

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p35r](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p35r)

## Description of the data and file structure

The data were simulation data that are generated using the R software (version 3.6.1). R codes for generating the data are also attached in the zip file \"Xiao_et_al_code_simulation_and_null_model.zip\"

## Files and variables

##### **Xiao et al. Simulation of communities of different SADs to test the model**

This dataframe contains simulation data for sampling from communities with four different species abundance distributions (SADs, including lognormal, gamma, exponential and truncated-hyperbolic distributions).

Xiao_et_al_simumation_prediction_SAD.xlsx

    -This dataframe contains α-diversity and β-diversity predicted from the model and observed in simulated communities of each SAD.

Metadata_Xiao_et_al_simumation_prediction_SAD.docx

####...