I want to determine global values for the proportion of flowering plant diversity that is found in the tropics, subtropics, and temperate parts of the world.
In the past I've used Kier et al. (2005) Global patterns of plant diversity and floristic knowledge. – J. Biogeogr. 32: 1107 – 1116.
Is there a more up to date assessment?
I cannot suggest and answer, but wonder why the Arctic flora is not considered. Peter
I cannot either, but it varies so much from continent to continent you are probably best off getting figures for each region. I did this for Mediterranean-climate regions from a variety of sources (Chile, as I am sure you know, is remarkably un-diverse). You can then add them together if you want. Have you looked e.g. just within Africa? That would make perhaps the best comparison because of its latitude span, but would give a very different answer, I would think, from South America. I suspect that Australia would be most diverse in its med-climate regions.
Peter - yes, I'm interested in the arctic too - not a deliberate error.
Andrew - thanks for the suggestion - it's sort of what I did originally using the Kier et al. paper, but I wondered if someone had found a better way of doing it.
I agree with Andrew that a good approach would be to scale up from regional floras. Some recent work that might be useful:
- Barthlott, W., A. Hostert, G. Kier,W. Küper, H. Kreft, J. Mutke,M.D. Rafiqpoor and J.H., Sommer. 2007. Geographic patterns of vascular plant diversity at continental to global scales. Erdkunde 61: 305-315.
- Mutke, J. and W. Barthlott. 2005. Patterns of vascular plant diversity at continental to global scales. Biologiske Skrifter 55: 521‐531.
- Mutke, J., J. Sommer, H. Kreft, G. Kier, and W. Barthlott. 2011. Vascular Plant Diversity in a Changing World: Global Centres and Biome-Specific Patterns. Pages 83-96 in F. E. Zachos and J. C. Habel, editors. Biodiversity Hotspots. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Most likely you already know these refs- Kier is a coauthor. Maybe there are additional refs by Mutke and Barthlott.
I wonder if an indirect approach based on, say, a replicated comparison of alpha- and beta-diversity ratios between comparable areas of the different biomes may help. Just to assess the proportions, not the raw values.
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