Macrosystems Gentry Tree Sampling Plot Latitude, Longitude, and Elevation for HJA, HFR, BCI, CWT, LUQ, and NWT

Patterns of biodiversity, such as the increase toward the tropics and the peaked curve during ecological succession, are fundamental phenomena for ecology. Such patterns have multiple, interacting causes, but temperature emerges as a dominant factor across organisms from microbes to trees and mammals, and across terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments. However, there is little consensus on the underlying mechanisms, even as global temperatures increase and the need to predict their effects becomes more pressing. The purpose of this project is to generate and test theory for how temperature impacts biodiversity through its effect on biochemical processes and metabolic rate. A combination of standardized surveys in the field and controlled experiments in the field and laboratory measure diversity of three taxa -- trees, invertebrates, and microbes -- and key biogeochemical processes of decomposition in seven forests distributed along a geographic gradient of increasing temperature from cold temperate to warm tropical. This dataset contains the latitudes, longitudes, and elevations of the five Gentry subplots set up for measuring tree growth at each experimental site. These plots were installed by the Enquist Lab and the University of Arizona as part of this macrosystems biodiversity and latitude project supported by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement DEB#1065836.生物多样性分布格局——如向热带地区递增的格局，以及生态演替过程中呈现的单峰曲线分布，均为生态学领域的核心基础现象。这类格局的成因复杂且存在交互作用，但无论对于微生物、树木与哺乳类等各类生物，还是陆地、海洋与淡水等各类生境而言，温度均是主导性影响因子。然而，尽管全球气温持续上升，预测其生态影响的需求愈发迫切，学界针对这些格局背后的潜在机制仍未达成广泛共识。本项目旨在构建并检验相关理论，以阐明温度如何通过影响生化过程与代谢速率，进而作用于生物多样性。本研究结合野外标准化调查与野外、实验室控制实验，对沿温度梯度分布的7处森林开展观测：该温度梯度从寒温带逐步延伸至暖热带，涵盖3个类群——树木、无脊椎动物与微生物的多样性，以及关键的分解生物地球化学过程。本数据集包含各实验站点用于监测树木生长的5个金特里样地（Gentry subplots）的纬度、经度与海拔信息。此类样地由恩奎斯特实验室（Enquist Lab）与亚利桑那大学设立，作为本宏系统生物多样性与纬度项目的组成部分，该项目由美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）通过合作协议DEB#1065836资助。