Greater Diversity of Life in Tropics (Science magazine)

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2006/oct/05/100500793.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - As explorers investigated the world in centuries past they began pondering a puzzle called the "latitudinal diversity gradient." That's science talk for: The farther you go from the tropics, the fewer different kinds of plants and animals there are.

The question became, is it because more species originate in the tropics, or because older ones can persist there longer? In other words, are the tropics a cradle of diversity or a museum?

The answer: It's both.

<snip>

About three-quarters of today's types of these creatures originated in the tropics and spread outward toward the poles, while only one-quarter originated at higher latitudes, they report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

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[Dead_Parrot]

1. So, in that case...

turning the tropics into a giant fucking desert would be a bad thing, right?

Thanks - Sounds like a good paper, I'll have to hunt it down.

[YankeyMCC]

2. Sounds very interesting and important but

unfortunately this isn't likely to make much of an impact on the public. You have to accept reality - meaning evolution - for this to have any meaning.