Latitudinal Gradient in Biodiversity

Latitudinal Gradient in Biodiversity

Introduction

One of the most striking regularities of the spatial distribution of species in the modern biosphere is the so-called latitudinal gradient of diversity (SHGR) in the tropics, the maximum number of species, as we approach the poles, it gradually decreases. Analysis of the global paleontological databases showed that the oceans SHGR already existed since the Cambrian, but the zone of maximum diversity is not always located near the equator: it gradually shifted from south to north, following the drift of continents, and related areas of the continental shelf.

In the modern nature SHGR expressed in reducing ...