One size does not always fit all: a reply to Stroud and Feeley.

The downside of diversity: a tropical problem? The most biodiverse communities in the world are located in the tropics [6]. Tropical species are widely believed to be more sensitive to climate change than their temperate counterparts because of (i) the absence of a marked latitudinal gradient of temperature within the tropics, which risk of species loss – we cannot afford to wait to construct models post hoc based on observed extinctions. Combining the theories synthesized by Gallagher et al. with the classic theory of niche packing, we can predict that highly-speciose communities and their constituent species are at high risk of extinction from environmental disturbances such as climate change and habitat loss. Given this potential downside to diversity, we argue that there is additional motivation to prioritize the conservation of high-diversity communities in the tropics. Letters Trends in Ecology & Evolution June 2015, Vol. 30, No. 6