Peng Xi-Wen, Lan Jing, Sun Zi-Jian, Zhu Wen-Bo, Zhao Tian
College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jun 29;12(13):1673. doi: 10.3390/ani12131673.
Phylogenetic structure is a key facet of biodiversity, reflecting the evolutionary history of species, and thus can be used to understand various ecological patterns. Although amphibian phylogenetic structures have been tested across space and time separately, simultaneous quantifications are still needed. In the present study, amphibians in streams of Tianping mountain, China, were selected as the model to investigate their elevational spatial and seasonal temporal patterns of phylogenetic diversity. Specifically, 13 streams located in lowland and highland sites were sampled for amphibians and measured for microhabitat variables in April, June, August, and October 2017, separately. Four phylogenetic structural indices, including Faith's PD, standardized effect size (SES) of Faith's PD, mean pairwise phylogenetic distance index (MPD), and SES.MPD, were calculated. Our results revealed that amphibian phylogenetic patterns were not significantly different between lowland and highland sites, but differed significantly between four seasons, associated with distinct community assembly rules (phylogenetically overdispersed vs. phylogenetically clustered). Importantly, these patterns were strongly determined by microhabitat variables such as rock cover, water temperature, and water depth. Our results provide fundamental knowledge to better protect amphibian diversity. Both elevational and seasonal variations are important to understanding the general patterns of amphibian community assembly rules.
系统发育结构是生物多样性的一个关键方面，反映了物种的进化历史，因此可用于理解各种生态模式。尽管两栖动物的系统发育结构已分别在空间和时间上进行了测试，但仍需要同时进行量化。在本研究中，选取中国天平山溪流中的两栖动物作为模型，以研究其系统发育多样性的海拔空间和季节时间模式。具体而言，分别于2017年4月、6月、8月和10月，对位于低地和高地的13条溪流中的两栖动物进行采样，并测量其微生境变量。计算了四个系统发育结构指数，包括费思的系统发育多样性指数（Faith's PD）、费思的系统发育多样性指数的标准化效应大小（SES）、平均成对系统发育距离指数（MPD）和标准化平均成对系统发育距离指数（SES.MPD）。我们的结果表明，低地和高地两栖动物的系统发育模式没有显著差异，但四个季节之间存在显著差异，这与不同的群落组装规则（系统发育过度分散与系统发育聚集）有关。重要的是，这些模式强烈地由诸如岩石覆盖率、水温、水深等微生境变量决定。我们的结果为更好地保护两栖动物多样性提供了基础知识。海拔和季节变化对于理解两栖动物群落组装规则的一般模式都很重要。
