在氣候暖化和生物多樣性減少的背景下，了解跨溫度下物種的生態表現模式變得更加急迫且重要。豐度中心假說(Abudant-centre hypothesis, ACH)認為，生物在其氣候棲息中心豐度數量會達到最大值，並隨著遠離中心逐漸下降。但最近的研究表明，跨不同分類群中，生物分布豐度模式是否符合該假說並無一致的結論。另一方面，熱生理表現曲線(Thermal performance curve, TPC)描述在溫度梯度下，外溫動物的生態表現緩慢上升，並達到最適溫度後迅速下降。基於環境溫度是影響外溫動物體溫的重要因素，且若外溫動物豐度能夠反映其綜合生理表現，則外溫動物跨溫度分布豐度應呈現負偏態趨勢。本研究使用馬來西亞、臺灣和中國涵蓋不同氣候變異度，沿海拔梯度進行調查和實驗的蛾類資料，系統性量化蛾類跨溫度梯度上豐度分布形狀。並使用透過蒙特卡羅演算法計算和定義判斷是否為偏態分布的區間臨界值，檢測外溫動物溫度豐度分布(thermal-abundance distribution)是否更符合TPC預期、呈現顯著負偏態分布。同時使用線性混合模型、多變項線性回歸和模型平均法，測試日溫差、耐受溫度寬度、分布範圍和體型大小等氣候變異和生物特徵，是否能夠解釋其跨溫度分布豐度偏度。結果顯示，大多數蛾類物種溫度豐度分布呈對稱且鐘形分布，並且正偏態分布數量高於負偏態分布。體型大小和分布範圍能夠解釋溫度豐度分布之偏度，可能反映生物競爭優勢與溫度調節能力。本研究探討變溫動物溫度豐度分布模式，將有助於理解外溫動物的溫度適應以及氣候變遷之衝擊。

Understanding the ecological performance of species across temperature gradients is pressing issue under climate change and biodiversity loss. The Abundant-centre hypothesis (ACH) proposes that species abundance reaches its maximum at the center of their climate niche. However, recent studies have shown inconsistent support to ACH across different taxa. On the other hand, the Thermal Performance Curve (TPC) describes that for ectotherms, performance increases slowly with temperature and then declines rapidly after reaching the optimal temperature. Since environmental temperature is an important factor affecting ectotherm body temperature, and their abundance might reflect ecological performance, the abundance distribution of ectotherms across temperature gradients may be negatively skewed. In this study, we systematically quantified the abundance distribution of moths along elevational gradients across a wide range of climatic variability in Malaysia, Taiwan, and China. We used a Monte Carlo algorithm to calculate the critical values of the asymmetric distribution and detect whether the thermal-abundance distribution of moths was more aligned with TPC, showing a significant negative skewness. Additionally, we developed linear mixed models and multiple linear regressions averaging to test whether climate variability and species traits, such as thermal tolerance range, range size, and body size, explain the skewness of the thermal-abundance distribution. The results show that the thermal-abundance distribution shape of moths is mostly symmetrical and bell-shaped, and the number of positive skewness is higher than negative skewness. Body size and range size may represent competitive advantages and thermal regulation abilities, which can better explain the skewness of the abundance distribution shape. By exploring the abundance distribution pattern of ectotherms across temperature gradient, we may better understand the thermal adaptation of ectotherms and impact of climate change.

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