Elevational range sizes of woody plants increase with climate variability in the Tropical Andes

Aim: The climate variability hypothesis proposes that species subjected to wide variation in climatic conditions will evolve wider niches, resulting in larger distributions. We test this hypothesis in tropical plants across a broad elevational gradient; specifically, we use a species-level approach to evaluate whether elevational range sizes are explained by the levels of thermal variability experienced by species.
Location: Central Andes
Time period: Present day
Taxon: Woody plants
Methods: Combining data from 479 forest plots, we determined the elevational distributions of nearly 2300 species along an elevational gradient (~209 – 3800 m). For each species, we calculated the maximum annual variation in temperature experienced across its elevational distribution. We used phylogenetic generalized least square models to evaluate the effect of thermal variability on range size. Our models included additional covariates that might affect range size: body size, local abundance, mean temperat..., Species elevational distributions were determined based on a large network of forest plots distributed along the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes. The network consists of 48 1-ha plots (henceforth large plots) and 458 0.1-ha plots (small plots) ranging in elevation from 209 m (Amazon forests) to 4,347 m (tree line). Within plots, all individuals of woody plant species with diameters at breast height (dbh) equal or above 10 cm (for large plots) or 2.5 cm (for small plots) were measured and identified. Each individual tree was assigned a species or morphospecies name (henceforth simply species), and extensive taxonomic work was conducted to ensure that names were applied consistently throughout all plots., , # Elevational range sizes of woody plants increase with climate variability in the Tropical Andes

## Description of the data and file structure

**Overall description of the four files included:**

(1) SM_DataSet1_sitedata.csv = Contains per plot data, including species richness, location and survey date and all climatic variables.

(2) SM_DataSet2_speciesdata.csv = Contains per species data, including taxonomic information, size, local abundance, occupancy and all climatic variables used for analyses.

(3) SM_Dataset3_RegionalPhylogeny_Phylomaker_OptionS1.tre = Contains the phylogenetic tree used in our analyses.

(4) FUN_Null.elev.ranges_2023-02-10.R = R Script with the null model used to account for geometric constraints in the estimation of range size of woody plants.

**Detailed description of each dataset:**

**1) SM_DataSet1_sitedata.csv**

COLUMN DETAILS

| site.name = Code name of plot |
...