Fig. 8: Endothermic vertebrates contrasting states found along the transect.

Along the latitudinal transect, endothermic terrestrial vertebrate communities range from an assemblage of few functional groups in the High-Arctic to a highly functionally diverse boreal vertebrate community. Contrasting states are defined by the occurrence and relative abundance of mammalian and avian functional groups present and active in the landscape (100 km x 100 km, a scale that encompasses summer home ranges of most taxa) throughout the annual cycle. Functional traits known to affect species interaction strength, dynamics of vertebrate communities and ecosystem processes were used to characterise functional groups (e.g., body size, nest placement, diet, hunting mode and sociality (see Supplementary Note 1 for definitions and details on functional groups and associated pictograms).