What question did this study set out to answer?

To identify global record values for vascular plant species richness across contiguous spatial grains from 1 mm² to 1 ha and evaluate whether maximum richness adheres to a consistent species–area relationship.

March 16, 2012Journal of Vegetation ScienceOpen Access

Plant species richness: the world records

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

To identify global record values for vascular plant species richness across contiguous spatial grains from 1 mm² to 1 ha and evaluate whether maximum richness adheres to a consistent species–area relationship.
Compiled maximum reported vascular plant species richness values worldwide across contiguous areas ranging from 1 mm² to 1 ha.
Fitted a power function to the maximum richness data across spatial scales and extrapolated the curve to predict global terrestrial plant richness.
Global plant richness maxima occur in only two community types: semi-natural, managed temperate grasslands at small grains (e.g., 89 species per 1 m²) and tropical rain forests at large grains (e.g., 942 species per 1 ha).
Maximum species richness across spatial scales conforms to a power function with a scaling exponent of z = 0.250, closely matching Preston's canonical value of 0.262.
Extrapolating the power function to the Earth's terrestrial land area yielded a predicted global richness of 219,204 vascular plant species.

Discussion

No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.

Implication

Ecological synthesis demonstrates maximum plant species richness follows a consistent power-law scaling across spatial scales, suggesting universal limits on botanical coexistence.

Cite This Study

Wilson et al. (2012) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69d9da51387cf70698685a68 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01400.x

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Implication

Ecological synthesis demonstrates maximum plant species richness follows a consistent power-law scaling across spatial scales, suggesting universal limits on botanical coexistence.

Plant species richness: the world records

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Plant species richness: the world records

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider