Physiological limits to thermal extremes are often thought to determine the abundance and geographical distribution of species, but more recent evidence suggests that species interactions might be equally important. Moreover, the relative importance of these constraints might shift with changing abiotic conditions, such as climate change. Here, we explore the relative importance of physiological tolerances to heat and species interactions in determining the distribution of insects along two elevational gradients. The gradients contrast in precipitation but not temperature, allowing us to separate these two climatic factors.

中文翻译：

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热容忍度和物种相互作用决定了昆虫的海拔分布

人们通常认为极端温度的生理极限决定了物种的丰度和地理分布，但是最近的证据表明，物种之间的相互作用可能同样重要。此外，这些限制的相对重要性可能会随着非生物条件（例如气候变化）的变化而变化。在这里，我们探讨了在确定昆虫沿两个海拔梯度的分布时对热量和物种相互作用的生理耐受性的相对重要性。梯度在降水中形成对比，而在温度中则不同，这使我们能够将这两个气候因素分开。