1,056 psyllid species distributions across China reveal a latitudinal diversity gradient with two peaks at approximately 25.1°N and 37.0°N. The dataset, compiled by Yanzhou Zhang and last updated in May 2026, was used to test competing ecological models on biotic and abiotic drivers. Analysis identified host-plant diversity as the strongest independent predictor of psyllid richness.
Use Cases
- Modeling latitudinal diversity gradients for specialist insects based on species richness data.
- Analyzing the independent effects of host-plant diversity versus climate factors on species distributions.
- Testing ecological cascade hypotheses (e.g., Climate → Productivity → Host Diversity) using structural equation modeling.
- Studying biogeographic patterns of phytophagous insects within China.
Strengths
- Contains distributional data for a substantial number of species (1,056 psyllid species).
- Analysis quantified the independent contribution of host-plant diversity (31.1%) as a predictor.
- Data is structured for statistical modeling (GAM, hierarchical partitioning, piecewise SEM) as described.
- Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.
- The dataset is small in file size (287.4 KB), indicating a limited scope or highly aggregated data.
Provenance
- Source
- figshare, author Yanzhou Zhang.
- Collection Method
- Compiled distributional data, likely from literature and specimen records.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-14 08:49:49; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- China