DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p32x
title: Data from: Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity

description: Using data on bird species elevational distributions from all of the
 world’s mountain ranges, bird diets, and the distribution of the ant genus
 Oecophylla, we show that global patterns in bird elevational diversity are
 likely to be affected by competition with ants. Oecophylla is an abundant
 and effective predator of invertebrates, preying on the same species that
 invertivorous birds feed on. In mountain ranges with Oecophylla present in
 the foothills, maximum species richness of invertivorous birds occurs, on
 average, at 960m, ~450m higher than in mountain ranges without Oecophylla
 to produce a mid-elevation peak in bird species richness. Where Oecophylla
 is absent, bird species richness shows monotonic declines with increasing
 elevation. Oecophylla likely reduces prey density for invertivorous birds,
 low prey abundance reduces invertivorous bird density which in turn is
 correlated with lower bird species richness. The findings emphasize that
 competitive interactions between distantly related taxa can set range
 limits.
description: These data were obtained from the following sources: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25794 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25794), and https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl7242 (DOI: 10.1126/science.abl7242). They were processed using the statistical and programming language R. The processed data has been uploaded to Dryad.
description: # Data from: Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity
 Umesh Srinivasan<sup>1</sup>, Kartik
 Shanker<sup>1,2</sup> & Trevor Douglas
 Price<sup>3</sup> <sup>1</sup> Centre for
 Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, INDIA;
 <sup>2</sup> Dakshin Foundation, Bangalore, INDIA;
 <sup>3</sup> Department of Ecology and Evolution, University
 of Chicago, USA Email addresses:
 **[umeshs@iisc.ac.in](mailto:umeshs@iisc.ac.in),
 [kshanker@iisc.ac.in](mailto:kshanker@iisc.ac.in),
 [pricet@uchicago.edu](mailto:pricet@uchicago.edu)** **A. Quintero &
 Jetz_ants birds prod rain.csv** In this file, the columns represent the
 following (dietary guilds are for birds): 1. sno: serial number 2.
 mountain.range: code for mountain range identity (see Fig. 1 in main
 manuscript) 3. elev.max.aqpr.SR: elevation where the richness of aquatic
 predators peaks (units: m above sea level) 4. elev.max.frug.SR: elevation
 where the richness of frugivores peaks (units: m above sea level) 5.
 elev.max.gran.SR: elevation where the richness of granivores peaks (units:
 m above sea level) 6. elev.max.hbaq.SR: elevation where the richness of
 aquatic herbivores peaks (units: m above sea level) 7. elev.max.hbtr.SR:
 elevation where the richness of terrestrial herbivores peaks (units: m
 above sea level) 8. elev.max.invt.SR: elevation where the richness of
 invertivores peaks (units: m above sea level) 9. elev.max.nect.SR:
 elevation where the richness of nectarivores peaks (units: m above sea
 level) 10. elev.max.omni.SR: elevation where the richness of omnivores
 peaks (units: m above sea level) 11. elev.max.scav.SR: elevation where the
 richness of scavengers peaks (units: m above sea level) 12.
 elev.max.vert.SR: elevation where the richness of vertivores peaks (units:
 m above sea level) 13. elev.max.all.SR: elevation where the richness of
 all species peaks (units: m above sea level) 14. elev.max.prod: elevation
 with maximum net primary productivity (units: m above sea level) 15.
 elev.max.pptn: elevation with maximum precipitation (units: m above sea
 level) 16. oecophylla: whether the ant genus *Oecophylla* is present in
 the mountain range or not (present/absent) Each row represents one of the
 46 major mountain ranges of the world. **B. Freeman et al_eBird data.csv**
 In this dataset, the columns represent the following: 1. species_code:
 bird species code used by eBird (eBird.org; no units) 2. PRIMARY_COM_NAME:
 most commonly used English name for each bird species 3. lower: lower
 elevational range limit (units: m above sea level) 4. upper: (units: m
 above sea level) 5. Trophic.Niche: dietary guild of each bird species (no
 units) Rows represent eBird records for each bird species in each mountain
 range. **C. Freeman et al_locations.csv** In this file, columns represent
 the following: 1. location: the location of the mountain range (no units)
 2. island/continent: whether the mountain range is on an island or a
 continent (no units) 3. Oecophylla: whether the ant genus *Oecophylla* is
 present on the mountain range (yes/no) Rows represent data for each
 mountain range. **D. Elevation and invertivore species richness.csv** **E.
 Elevation and omnivore species richness.csv** **F. Elevation and
 non-invertivore species richness.csv** In these datasets, each row
 represents an elevation (units: m above sea level), and each column
 represents one of the world’s 46 major mountain ranges (coded; no units).
 Entries in the matrix are species richness of invertivores, omnivores and
 non-invertivores (respectively in each file) at each elevation in each
 mountain range.