Data from: Ecological and evolutionary drivers of the elevational gradient of diversity

Ecological, evolutionary, spatial and neutral theories make distinct
predictions and provide distinct explanations for the mechanisms that
control the relationship between diversity and the environment. Here, we
test predictions of the elevational diversity gradient focusing on Iberian
bumblebees, grasshoppers and birds. Processes mediated by local abundance
and regional diversity concur in explaining local diversity patterns along
elevation. Effects expressed through variation in abundance were similar
among taxa and point to the overriding role of a physical factor,
temperature. This determines how energy is distributed among individuals
and ultimately how the resulting pattern of abundance affects species
incidence. Effects expressed through variation in regional species pools
depended instead on taxon-specific evolutionary history, and lead to
diverging responses under similar environmental pressures. Local filters
and regional variation also explain functional diversity gradients, in
line with results from species richness that indicate an (local)
ecological and (regional) historical unfolding of diversity–elevation
relationships.