Why do some areas teem with life while others remain stark and sparse? A groundbreaking study finds that nature follows a simple but universal rule — and it reshapes how we understand ecosystems across the planet.
Key Points at a Glance
- Life tends to cluster in small, biodiverse ‘core’ areas within each bioregion
- Species radiate outward from these cores, but fewer survive farther out
- This pattern holds true across all continents, ecosystems, and life forms
- The findings support a global ecological theory called environmental filtering
- Protecting biodiversity cores is vital for conservation in a changing climate
In every corner of the Earth — from lush rainforests to dry savannas, coral reefs to icy tundras — life follows a strikingly consistent rule. According to a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, most species concentrate in small, high-diversity “core zones,” and gradually disperse from there, with fewer and fewer species able to persist in more challenging environments.
This principle, observed across amphibians, mammals, trees, marine rays, dragonflies, birds, and reptiles, suggests a global law of ecological organization. It provides long-awaited empirical evidence for the theory of environmental filtering — the idea that local conditions such as temperature, moisture, or salinity determine which species can survive.
“In every bioregion, there’s always a central hotspot,” explained lead author Rubén Bernardo-Madrid from Umeå University. “From this optimal area, life fans outward, but only the hardiest or most adaptable organisms can handle the conditions further away.”
It’s a discovery that spans scale and species. Whether plants rooted in the Amazon basin or migratory birds gliding over Africa, biodiversity consistently peaks in key zones and wanes with distance. The findings were unexpected because the team deliberately analyzed diverse organisms across drastically different environments — yet the same pattern held true.
Professor Manuela González-Suárez of the University of Reading, a co-author of the study, noted that the underlying constraints don’t even have to be the same. “It doesn’t matter if the limiting factor is heat, cold, drought or salt,” she said. “What matters is that only some species can survive in any given condition, leading to this predictable distribution.”
This universal architecture of life has powerful implications. Not only does it suggest that biodiversity is more orderly than previously believed — it could also help us predict how ecosystems will react as global conditions change. Climate change, deforestation, or ocean acidification could shift or shrink these biodiversity cores, endangering the very engines of life from which ecosystems are built.
Jose Luis Tella, another study co-author, put it bluntly: “Safeguarding these core zones is essential. They’re not just where most species are — they’re where ecosystems are born.”
Understanding this natural rule may help conservationists prioritize regions that matter most. And in a time when Earth’s ecosystems are under unprecedented stress, clarity on how life structures itself — and how it can unravel — has never been more important.
Source: University of Reading
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