Xugao Wang

Abstract The global decrease in species diversity from low to high latitudes is among the most robust biogeographic patterns1,2. There is continuing debate on the contribution of conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) to the latitudinal diversity gradient evident for trees3,4. Theory suggests that CNDD based on pairwise interactions alone is not sufficient to explain the intricacies of diverse communities, because higher-order interactions (HOIs) may greatly modify these interactions5,6.

Abstract Species richness and ecological uniqueness (defined as local contributions of sites to beta diversity of a region) constitute two crucial components of biodiversity. Understanding the relationship between these two components is critical for effective conservation planning, yet global patterns and underlying drivers remain largely controversial.

Abstract The search for simple principles that underlie the spatial structure and dynamics of plant communities is a long-standing challenge in ecology1,2,3,4,5,6. In particular, the relationship between species coexistence and the spatial distribution of plants is challenging to resolve in species-rich communities7,8,9. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of 720 tree species in 21 large forest plots and their consequences for species coexistence.