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Macroecology
and Biogeography
The causes of
variation in species richness at large spatial scales are intensively
debated. I am interested in examining the biogeographic distribution
and diversity of terrestrial vertebrates and plants at regional, continental,
and global spatial scales. Particularly, I try to disentangle to what
extend biotic interactions, climate and energy availability, habitat
heterogeneity, and evolutionary or biogeographic history shape species
distributions and spatial patterns of biodiversity. I compile and
use large databases on species occurrences and environmental variables
and apply advanced statistics to test the potential of explanatory
variables at different spatial scales. With this research I explore
and generate hypotheses on the interplay of biotic, environmental,
and historical constraints on community assembly and species distribution
over broad geographic scales.
Keywords:
historical biogeography, community assembly, macroecology, plant-animal
interactions, species-energy theory.
Selected publications:
- Kissling,
W.D., Böhning-Gaese, K. & Jetz, W. (2009): The global
distribution of frugivory in birds. Global Ecology and Biogeography
18: 150–162. [Abstract]
- Qian, H. &
Kissling, W.D. (2010): Spatial scale and cross-taxon congruence
of terrestrial vertebrate and vascular plant species richness in
China. Ecology
91: 1172–1183. [Abstract]
- Kissling,
W.D., Sekercioglu, C.H. & Jetz, W. (2012): Bird dietary
guild richness across latitudes, environments and biogeographic
regions. Global Ecology & Biogeography 21: 328–340.
[ABSTRACT]
- Kissling,
W.D., Baker, W.J., Balslev, H., Barfod, A.S., Borchsenius, F.,
Dransfield, J., Govaerts, R. & Svenning, J.-C. (2012): Quaternary
and pre-Quaternary historical legacies in the global distribution
of a major tropical plant lineage. Global Ecology & Biogeography.
[Early
Online]
- Kissling,
W.D., Eiserhardt, W.L., Baker, W.J., Borchsenius, F., Couvreur,
T.L.P., Balslev, H. & Svenning, J.-C. (2012): Cenozoic imprints
on the phylogenetic structure of palm species assemblages worldwide.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United
States of America 109: 7379–7384. [ABSTRACT].
Figure:
The proportion of frugivores (i.e., birds having fruits as their
main diet) in bird assemblages across the world. Note a strong latitudinal
gradient with highest proportions of fruit-eating birds (red color)
at tropical latitudes, especially in the Neotropics and Southeast
Asia, but less so in Africa. From Kissling et al. (2009).
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W.
Daniel Kissling
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