Data from: Trees have overlapping potential niches that extend beyond their realized niches (Q6686579)

Tree species appear to prefer distinct climatic conditions, but the true nature of these preferences is obscured by species interactions and dispersal, which limit species' ranges. We quantified realized and potential thermal niches of 188 North American tree species to conduct the first continental-scale test of the architecture of niches. We found strong and consistent evidence that species occurring at thermal extremes occupy less than three-quarters of their potential niches and species' thermal niches overlap at a mean annual temperature of approximately 12 °C. These results clarify the breadth of thermal tolerances of temperate tree species and support the centrifugal organization of thermal niches. Accounting for the non-realized components of ecological niches will advance theory and prediction in global change ecology.