The importance of competition and facilitation for global tree diversity

Although competition and facilitation both influence tree diversity1,2,3,4,5, their relative importance and variation with latitude remain poorly understood. Using data from 17 large forest plots, including around 2.7 million trees and over 5,400 species spanning 5° S to 47° N, we quantified the latitudinal trends of the relative importance of negative (competitive) and positive (facilitative) interactions among neighbouring tree species, accounting for three biotic and eight environmental factors. We examined whether the average neighbourhood species diversity around individuals of each focal species was larger or smaller than expected under null models. The results show that negative interspecific interactions prevailed across most plots. Near the equator, the relative proportions of species surrounded by a lower or higher than expected number of neighbours were roughly equal, but at higher latitudes, the proportions of species with a relatively higher number of neighbours declined, and those with fewer neighbours increased significantly. This latitudinal pattern can be attributed in part to reduced abundance of legumes, non-arbuscular mycorrhizal associations, and the weaker canopy nursing effect towards higher latitudes, but it was mediated by mean annual temperature. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized relative decline in facilitative interactions and increase in competitive interactions with latitude and suggest that rising temperatures could enhance facilitative effects and promote tree community diversity at higher latitudes.