Micro-refuges or ecological traps: context-dependent effects of rock pools on intertidal biodiversity across latitudes

Résumé fourni par la source

Biodiversity is unevenly distributed across the Earth. At very large spatial scales, the decline in species richness from the tropics to the poles, the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient (LDG), remains one of the most widely recognized patterns in ecology. We investigated how local-scale environmental heterogeneity influences biodiversity patterns across broad biogeographic gradients, using intertidal microhabitats (rock pools and adjacent emergent rock) as a model system within one of the most environmentally stressful ecosystems on Earth. This Dryad dataset compiles standardized biodiversity and microclimate observations from rocky intertidal habitats at 26 locations in 21 countries across six continents, spanning 38°S to 60°N (2019–2022). Across the survey, 675 taxonomic entities were recorded (505 identified to species level), with rock pools containing 618 taxa (274 unique) and emergent rock 401 taxa (57 unique). Data show that microhabitat differences can strongly modify latitudinal biodiversity patterns, with pools generally supporting higher taxonomic and functional diversity than emergent rock, but with context-dependent outcomes under extreme conditions. By mediating exposure to environmental stress, intertidal microhabitats provide insight into how fine-scale variability interacts with latitudinal stress gradients to shape biodiversity distributions. Incorporating microhabitat variability into biogeographic frameworks is important for understanding global biodiversity patterns and predicting ecological responses to climate change.

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