Animals & nature · 2026
When equal numbers of plant species are compared, are flower colors more evenly represented closer to the equator?
Yes. In a global observational analysis covering 64,000 flowering plant species, human-visible flower colors occurred in more even proportions closer to the equator after researchers standardized the number of species compared across regions. The pattern does not establish what causes it.
Details
Flower color diversity is not just about how many plant species a region contains. It also concerns how evenly different colors are represented among those species. Researchers used computer vision to analyze community science data and model global patterns in flower colors visible to humans.
After standardizing the number of species sampled from each region’s flora, they found a robust pattern: colors were more evenly represented toward the equator. The finding concerns the relative representation of colors, not simply a greater number of plant species.
Models also found associations between flower color, climate and how plants are pollinated. These observational relationships provide a basis for testing explanations, but do not establish which ecological or evolutionary processes cause the pattern. The analysis concerns human-visible colors, not how flowers appear to birds or other animals.
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