Pei Xiaoxin, Ren Xueyang, Hu Jiangxiao, Onditi Kenneth Otieno, Xu Yifan, Zhang Min, Chang Wenqing, Chen Zhongzheng
Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co-Founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of Education, School of Ecology and Environment, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, China.
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jul 27;12(15):1915. doi: 10.3390/ani12151915.
Understanding the mechanisms influencing patterns and processes of biological diversity is critical to protecting biodiversity, particularly in species-rich ecosystems such as mountains. Even so, there is limited knowledge of biodiversity patterns and processes in the mountains of eastern China, especially about small mammals. In this study, we examined the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of small mammal distribution and community structure along the elevational gradient of Qingliang Mountain, eastern China. We then evaluated how they are influenced by space (area and mid-domain effect (MDE)), environment (temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and human disturbance. The results showed hump-shaped patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity along elevation gradients, peaking at 1000 m, unlike functional diversity, which peaked at lower elevations (600 m). The mean pairwise distance and mean nearest taxon distance of functional and phylogenetic variance (MFD and MPD, respectively) were also incongruent. The MFD and MPD showed hump-shaped patterns along elevations; however, unlike MFD, which peaked at lower elevations (600 m), MPD peaked at higher elevations (1200 m). The mean nearest functional taxon distance (MNFD) decreased, while the mean nearest phylogenetic taxon distance (MNTD) increased along the elevation gradient. The higher elevations were functionally more clustered, while the lower elevations were phylogenetically more clustered, suggesting that environmental filtering for traits was stronger at higher elevations. In comparison, phylogenetic conservatism of ecological niches had a stronger influence at lower elevations. The diversity and community structure indices were inconsistently explained, with human disturbance and MDE accounting for the biggest proportions of the model-explained variances. Overall, the results confirm that environmental filtering and human disturbance significantly influence small mammals' diversity and community structure. These findings also emphasize the need for increased conservation efforts in the middle and lower elevation regions of Qingliang Mountain.
了解影响生物多样性格局和过程的机制对于保护生物多样性至关重要，尤其是在山区等物种丰富的生态系统中。即便如此，对于中国东部山区的生物多样性格局和过程，我们所知有限，特别是关于小型哺乳动物的情况。在本研究中，我们调查了中国东部清凉山海拔梯度上小型哺乳动物分布和群落结构的分类、功能和系统发育多样性。然后，我们评估了它们如何受到空间（面积和中域效应（MDE））、环境（温度、降水和归一化植被指数（NDVI））以及人类干扰的影响。结果表明，分类和系统发育多样性沿海拔梯度呈驼峰状格局，在1000米处达到峰值，这与功能多样性不同，功能多样性在较低海拔（600米）处达到峰值。功能和系统发育方差的平均成对距离和平均最近分类单元距离（分别为MFD和MPD）也不一致。MFD和MPD沿海拔呈驼峰状格局；然而，与在较低海拔（600米）处达到峰值的MFD不同，MPD在较高海拔（1200米）处达到峰值。平均最近功能分类单元距离（MNFD）沿海拔梯度下降，而平均最近系统发育分类单元距离（MNTD）沿海拔梯度增加。较高海拔处功能上更为聚集，而较低海拔处系统发育上更为聚集，这表明在较高海拔处对性状的环境过滤更强。相比之下，生态位的系统发育保守性在较低海拔处影响更强。多样性和群落结构指数的解释并不一致，人类干扰和MDE在模型解释方差中占比最大。总体而言，结果证实环境过滤和人类干扰显著影响小型哺乳动物的多样性和群落结构。这些发现还强调了在清凉山的中低海拔地区加大保护力度的必要性。
