Carsten Rahbek, PhD
Patterns of Diversity
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
scholar.google.com
Ryan Burner
Community Ecology
23 April 2013
Education
University of Copenhagen, Denmark,
Biology, B.Sc., 1988
University of Wisconsin, USA, visiting
graduate student, 1990 - 1991
University of Copenhagen, Denmark,
Zoology, M.Sc., 1992
Smithsonian Institution, NMNH,
Research Fellow 1993 - 1995
University of Copenhagen, Denmark,
Biogeography, PhD, 1995
Appointments
Currently:
Professor and Director, Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at University
of Copenhagen
and
President-Elect, International Biogeography Society
2005-present. Full Professor, Department of Biology, Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark;
2001-2005. Professor MSO, Zoological Museum, Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark;
1995-2005. Head of the Copenhagen Bird Ringing Centre & Curator of Birds;
1998-2001. Associate Professor, Zoological Museum, Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark;
1995-1998. Assistant Professor, Zoological Museum, Univ. of Copenhagen, Denmark.
http://blog.ujjvalpanchal.com/
Research Interests
“Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate”
Shahid Naeem; http://macroecology.ku.dk/
• Patterns of species distribution, species range
sizes, species assemblages, species richness
and
• Mechanisms that determine these patterns
– “contemporary and historical factors or perhaps
also just a bit of chance”
Early Work
• A survey of the montane forest avifauna of the Loja province, southern
Ecuador; 1991.
H. Bloch, M. K. Poulsen, C. Rahbek, J. F. Rasmussen
• Lista de aves del Parque Nacional Podocarpus 1992.
J. F. Rasmussen, M. K. Poulsen, C. Rahbek, H. Bloch
• Avian body weights from southern Equador 1993.
C. Rahbek, H. Bloch, M. K. Poulsen, J. F. Rasmussen
Orange-headed Tanager
wikipedia.com
Species Richness, Gradients, Patterns,
and Mechanisms
• The elevational gradient of species richness: a uniform pattern? 1995.
C. Rahbek
– 493 citations, beginning of a major theme in his work
• The relationship among area, elevation, and regional species richness in
neotropical birds 1997.
C. Rahbek
biogeography.org
Species Richness, Gradients, Patterns,
and Mechanisms
•
The functional biogeography of species: biogeographical species roles of birds in Wallacea and the
West Indies 2013.
D. W. Carstensen, B. Dalsgaard, J. C. Svenning, C. Rahbek, J. Fjeldså, W. J. Sutherland, J. M. Olesen
•
The role of mountain ranges in the diversification of birds 2012.
J. Fjeldså, R. C. K. Bowie, C. Rahbek
•
Dispersion fields, diversity fields and null models: uniting range sizes and species richness 2010.
M. K. Borregaard, C. Rahbek
•
Predicting continental-scale patterns of bird species richness with spatially explicit models 2007.
C. Rahbek, N. J. Gotelli, R. K. Colwell, G. L. Entsminger, T. Rangel, G. R. Graves
s
•
J. Fjeldså
N. Sanders w/ CR
G. Graves
R. Colwell
N. Gotelli
Conservation and Biogeography
•
Species richness and endemism in South American birds: implications for the design of
networks of nature reserves 1997.
J. Fjeldså, C. Rahbek
•
Continent-wide conservation priorities and diversification processes 1998.
J. Fjeldså, C. Rahbek
•
Priorities for conservation in Bolivia, illustrated by a continent-wide analysis of bird
distributions 1998.
J. Fjeldså, C. Rahbek
•
Conserving biodiversity in a world of conflicts 2007.
M. B. Araújo, C Rahbek
x
Holt et al. 2012
Redrawing Wallace’s
Eco-regions
by Taxa,
using Phylogenetic
Relationships
Holt et al. (2012)
Recent Focus
• On “the effect of climate change, the role of scale and
conceptual formulation, and practical design of null- and
predictive models that allow direct testing of hypotheses
related to patterns of diversity”
• Views his theoretical work as informing conservation
priority setting and hypothesis testing
Effects of Climate Change on Species
Diversity
• Habitat stability affects dispersal and the ability to track climate change
2012.
C. Hof, M. Brändle, D. M. Dehling, M. Munguía, R. Brandl, M. B. Araújo, C.
Rahbek
• Using species co‐occurrence networks to assess the impacts of climate
change 2011.
M. B. Araújo, A. Rozenfeld, C. Rahbek, P. A. Marquet
• Additive threats from pathogens, climate and land-use change for global
amphibian diversity 2011.
C. Hof, M. B. Araújo, W. Jetz, C. Rahbek
Habitat Stability,
Dispersal,
and the ability to track
Climate Change
Hof et al. 2012
Elevational Gradients in
Species Diversity
• A major recurring theme in Carsten Rahbek’s
research, and my focus for the rest of this
presentation
Gradients in Species Diversity
•
The patterns and causes of elevational diversity gradients 2012.
N. J. Sanders, C. Rahbek
•
Contrasting patterns of phylogenetic assemblage structure along the elevational gradient for
major hummingbird clades 2011.
J. L. Parra, C. Rahbek, J. A. McGuire, C. H. Graham
•
Elevational zonation of afrotropical forest bird communities along a homogeneous forest gradient
2009.
T. S. Romdal, C. Rahbek
•
Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients 2008.
D. Nogués-Bravo, M. B. Araújo, T. Romdal, C. Rahbek
•
The Mid‐Domain Effect: There’s a Baby in the Bathwater 2005.
R. K. Colwell, C Rahbek, NJ Gotelli
•
The Mid‐Domain Effect and Species Richness Patterns: What Have We Learned So Far? 2004
R. K. Colwell, C. Rahbek, N. J. Gotelli
Latitudinal Gradients in
Species Diversity
• One of the ‘most universal biogeographic patterns’
Marine Fish Species by Latitude
Pacific
Atlantic
From Rohde (1978) and Rohde (1993), combined in Rohde (2011)
Latitudinal and Elevational Gradients
Similarities
-Generally declining diversity
-Generally declining temperatures
-Generally declining vegetation cover
and primary productivity
Differences
-Seasonality
-Location of humidity peak
-Scale
-Replication
What Pattern? A First Question
From Rahbek (1995)
From Rahbek (1995)
The Richness/Elevation Relationship
Locally
Raw Data
From Rahbek (1995), citing Terborgh (1977)
Standardized
The Richness/Elevation Relationship
Continent Wide
Raw Data
From Rahbek (1995)
Standardized
Simple Models
of
Observed
Distributions
Rahbek (1997)
Models predicting a monotonic decline
Monotonic Richness/
Productivity
Rahbek (1997)
Rapoport’s ‘Rule’
Models predicting a hump-shaped
distribution
Hump-shaped Species/
Productivity relationship
Rahbek (1997)
Models predicting a hump-shaped
distribution
Bounded Random
Geographical Ranges
Rahbek (1997)
Simple Models
of
Observed
Distributions
Rahbek (1997)
Range of Elevational
Gradient (m)
Sampling Effects: multiple draws from
the same data set
Rahbek (2008)
Spatial Grain Size
(km^2)
Range of Elevational
Gradient (m)
Sampling Effects: multiple draws fro
the same data set
Rahbek (2008)
Spatial Grain Size
(km^2)
Range of Elevational
Gradient (m)
Sampling Effects: multiple draws from
the same data set
1
Rahbek (2008)
25
Spatial Grain Size
(km^2)
81
Worldwide Average Human Impact
by Elevation
Percent Original Vegetation
Rahbek (2008)
Human Impact Index
Proposed Mechanisms
• Some of the most frequently tested:
– climate and productivity
– source-sink dynamics
– mass and area effects
– disturbance
– geometric factors
– evolutionary history
– competition
N. J. Sanders and C. Rahbek (2012)
Thanks
science.ku.dk
For Future Reference
Colwell, R. K., et al. (2004). "The Mid‐Domain Effect and Species Richness Patterns: What Have We Learned So Far?" The American Naturalist
163(3): E1-E23.
Colwell, R. K., et al. (2005). "The Mid‐Domain Effect: There’s a Baby in the Bathwater." The American Naturalist 166(5): E149-E154.
Hof, C., et al. (2012). "Habitat stability affects dispersal and the ability to track climate change." Biology letters 8(4): 639-643.
Holt, B. G., et al. (2013). "An Update of Wallace’s Zoogeographic Regions of the World." Science 339(6115): 74-78.
Nogués-Bravo, D., et al. (2008). "Scale effects and human impact on the elevational species richness gradients." Nature 453(7192): 216-219.
Rahbek, C. (1995). "The elevational gradient of species richness: a uniform pattern?" Ecography 18(2): 200-205.
Rahbek, C. (1997). "The relationship among area, elevation, and regional species richness in neotropical birds." The American Naturalist
149(5): 875-902.
Rohde, Klaus (2011). Latitudinal Gradients in Species Diversity: Why are there so many species in the tropics? [Internet]. Version 1. Clinical
Sciences. Available from: http://clinicalsciences.wordpress.com/article/latitudinal-gradients-in-species-xk923bc3gp4-56/.
Sanders, N. J. and C. Rahbek (2012). "The patterns and causes of elevational diversity gradients." Ecography 35(1): 1-3.