Hu Jiancheng, Xu Nuo, Ao Sicheng, Tan Lu, Li Xianfu, Cai Qinghua, Tang Tao
Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan China.
School of Environmental Science and Engineering Hubei Polytechnic University Huangshi China.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Jul 14;14(7):e70010. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70010. eCollection 2024 Jul.
Unraveling biodiversity patterns and their driving processes is paramount in ecology and biogeography. However, there remains a limited understanding regarding the underlying mechanisms of community assembly, particularly in alpine streams where significant elevation gradients and habitat heterogeneity exist. We investigated the patterns and drivers of beta diversity, explicitly focusing on taxonomic and functional diversity, in the three parallel rivers region in China. We employed a beta diversity partitioning approach to examine the turnover and nestedness components of beta diversity and further deconstructed the diatom community into attached and unattached groups. Our results revealed distinct diversity patterns and drivers for taxonomic and functional beta diversity. Specifically, taxonomic beta diversity was mainly driven by the turnover component affected by spatial processes, whereas functional beta diversity was dominated by the nestedness component affected by environmental processes. Furthermore, our analysis of the division of the whole communities demonstrated that the varying responses of benthic diatoms with different attached abilities to environmental filtering, dispersal limitation, and directional flow were the essential reasons for shaping the biodiversity patterns of species turnover and functional nestedness in the alpine stream. Our findings suggested that partitioning beta diversity and dividing the entire community can more deeply infer underlying community assembly processes, thereby providing valuable insights into understanding biodiversity patterns, drivers, and conservation strategies.
揭示生物多样性模式及其驱动过程在生态学和生物地理学中至关重要。然而，对于群落组装的潜在机制，人们的了解仍然有限，尤其是在存在显著海拔梯度和栖息地异质性的高山溪流中。我们研究了中国三江并流地区β多样性的模式和驱动因素，特别关注分类多样性和功能多样性。我们采用β多样性划分方法来检验β多样性的周转和嵌套成分，并进一步将硅藻群落分解为附着和非附着群体。我们的结果揭示了分类和功能β多样性的不同多样性模式和驱动因素。具体而言，分类β多样性主要由受空间过程影响的周转成分驱动，而功能β多样性则由受环境过程影响的嵌套成分主导。此外，我们对整个群落划分的分析表明，具有不同附着能力的底栖硅藻对环境过滤、扩散限制和定向水流的不同响应是塑造高山溪流中物种周转和功能嵌套的生物多样性模式的根本原因。我们的研究结果表明，划分β多样性和划分整个群落可以更深入地推断潜在的群落组装过程，从而为理解生物多样性模式、驱动因素和保护策略提供有价值的见解。
