Can latitudinal richness gradients be measured in the terrestrial fossil record?

Studying the deep-time origins of macroecological phenomena can help us to understand their long-term drivers. Given the considerable spatiotemporal bias of the terrestrial fossil record, it behooves us to understand how much biological information is lost. The aim of this study is to establish whether latitudinal diversity gradients are detectable in a biased terrestrial fossil record. I develop a simulated fossilization approach, weighting the probability of terrestrial mammal species appearing in the fossil record based on body size and geographic-range size; larger species with larger range sizes are more likely to enter the fossil record. I create simulated fossil localities from the modern North American mammal record. I vary the percentage of species successfully fossilized and estimate the magnitude of the latitudinal diversity gradient (slope of the richness gradient and degree of species turnover). I find that estimates of the latitudinal diversity gradient are sensitive to th...研究宏观生态现象的深时起源，有助于我们明晰其长期驱动机制。鉴于陆地化石记录存在显著的时空偏差，我们有必要厘清在此过程中流失的生物信息总量。本研究旨在探究：在存在偏差的陆地化石记录中，是否仍可检测到纬度多样性梯度（latitudinal diversity gradient）。本研究开发了一套模拟化石形成的方法，基于体型大小与地理分布范围，对陆地哺乳动物物种进入化石记录的概率进行加权——体型更大、分布范围更广的物种，其化石形成概率更高。本研究基于现代北美哺乳动物的分布记录，构建了模拟化石点数据集。通过调整物种成功形成化石的比例，本研究估算了纬度多样性梯度的变化幅度，包括丰富度梯度的斜率与物种更替程度。本研究发现，纬度多样性梯度的估算结果对……敏感