The strength of biotic interactions is generally thought to increase towards the equator, but support for this hypothesis is contradictory. We explored whether predator attacks on artificial prey of eight different colours vary among climates and whether this variation affects the detection of latitudinal patterns in predation. The data set provides number of damage marks on each of 1320 plasticine caterpillars of eight different colours, which were attached to branches of woody plants and exposed...

Aim: The latitudinal gradient is considered a first-order biogeographical pattern for most taxonomic groups. Yet, latitudinal changes in plant ecological communities are not always consistent, and this could be related to the physical and biological characteristics of different forest types. In this study, we compare latitudinal changes in floristic diversity (alpha diversity), composition (beta diversity), and dominance across different tropical forest types: floodplain, terra firme, and submontane forests. Location: Western Amazonia (Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia)....

A possible response of many plant species to global warming is migration to higher elevations. However, these migrations may not be required if species can tolerate higher temperatures, or may be prevented if there are other factors such as changes in soil conditions that make upslope areas unsuitable. We used a set of 3-year field transplant experiments in the remote Peruvian Andes to simulate two possible responses of an abundant tropical montane cloudforest tree species...

This dataset includes measurements of microbial community composition by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, soil respiration (Carbon dioxide (CO2)), soil physico-chemical properties and 13C enrichment in CO2 samples and microbial Phospholipid Fatty Acids (PLFAs). Data were produced for an investigation of the effects of carbon (C) substrate addition on soil carbon cycling processes in ten tropical soils from the Peruvian Andes. Soils were amended with 13C labelled substrates (xylose, glycine, vanillin and hemicellulose) and incubated...

The exact timing, route, and process of the initial peopling of the Americas remains uncertain despite much research. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of humans as far as southern Chile by 14.6 thousand years ago (ka), shortly after the Pleistocene ice sheets blocking access from eastern Beringia began to retreat. Genetic estimates of the timing and route of entry have been constrained by the lack of suitable calibration points and low genetic diversity of Native...

Assessing the impacts of anthropogenic degradation and climate change on global carbon cycling is hindered by a lack of clear, flexible, and easy-to-use productivity models along with scarce trait and productivity data for parameterizing and testing those models. We provide a simple solution: a mechanistic framework (RS-CFM) that combines remotely-sensed foliar-trait and canopy-structural data with trait-based metabolic theory to efficiently map productivity at large spatial scales. We test this framework by quantifying net primary productivity...