Ecologists have long proposed that environments providing more energy can support more species, yet empirical evidence frequently contradicts this expectation. We argue that such inconsistencies result from confounding geographical influences that mask the true relationship between species richness and energy-related factors. Here, by comparing species richness across different climate conditions, we disentangle the direct effects of temperature, precipitation, and primary productivity from the confounding impacts of the area and isolation of various climates. Using a global analysis of terrestrial vertebrates, we reveal clear and consistent relationships between energy-related factors and species richness. Our findings clarify existing ecological theory and illustrate how adopting a climate space perspective advances biodiversity research, providing critical insights into biodiversity patterns and their responses to environmental change.

Center for Theoretical Study Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal de Goiás Goiânia Brazil

Department of Biology Lund University Lund Sweden

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Yale University New Haven CT USA

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Plant Physiology Umeå Plant Science Centre Umeå Universitet Umeå Sweden

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research Birmensdorf Switzerland

Yale Peabody Museum New Haven CT USA

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