Zu Kuiling, Chen Fusheng, Huang Chao, Liu Yuanqiu, Wang Fangchao, Zhu Guojin, Bu Wensheng, Fang Xiangmin, Guo Liping
Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang China.
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang China.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Dec 17;14(12):e70722. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70722. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Mountains have been recognized as biodiversity hotspots and possess strong elevational gradients. Whether these gradients exhibit similar characteristics in the multidimensional diversity patterns across different mountain ranges is a subject of inquiry. Exploring the elevational patterns of the diversity and phylogenetic information of plant species in the different subtropical mountains is necessary. Here, we compiled the elevational patterns of plant diversity occurring in the eight subtropical mountains of China and focused on the assessment of the patterns and determinants of the multi-dimensional diversity and phylogenetic structure in different mountains. We also detected the elevational patterns and their relationship between different groups. The results indicate two main patterns of multi-dimensional diversity: monotonic decrease and hump-shaped, along with the area effect on the species diversity. There is a strong positive link between the non-native and native species of species richness, and significant differences in phylogenetic structure's elevational distribution. We did not find the same rule in the mountains that the plant species in the lowlands indicate phylogenetic overdispersion, and the species in the higher elevation regions indicate phylogenetic clustering. We found that the plants' diversity peak is related to the mountains size, and this result showed that we should pay more attention to the conservation of plant communities in the higher elevation regions for the higher mountains. This study suggested that we should take different protective measures for the subtropical mountains: the lowland regions should be paid more attention in Mt. Lushan (LS), Mt. Guanshan (GS), Mt. Huanggang (HG), and Mt. Fanjing (FJ), and the middle-altitude regions should be of concern for other mountains. This study helps to better understand the elevational gradients of species diversity on different scales and provides supporting scientific basis for biodiversity conservation in the subtropical mountain regions.
山脉已被公认为生物多样性热点地区，且具有强烈的海拔梯度。这些梯度在不同山脉的多维多样性模式中是否表现出相似特征是一个值得探究的问题。探索不同亚热带山脉中植物物种多样性和系统发育信息的海拔模式很有必要。在此，我们汇总了中国八座亚热带山脉中植物多样性的海拔模式，并着重评估了不同山脉中多维多样性和系统发育结构的模式及决定因素。我们还检测了不同类群之间的海拔模式及其关系。结果表明多维多样性有两种主要模式：单调递减和驼峰状，以及面积对物种多样性的影响。物种丰富度的非本地物种与本地物种之间存在很强的正相关，且系统发育结构的海拔分布存在显著差异。我们没有在各山脉中发现相同的规律，即低地的植物物种显示系统发育过度分散，而高海拔地区的物种显示系统发育聚类。我们发现植物多样性峰值与山脉大小有关，这一结果表明对于更高的山脉，我们应更加关注高海拔地区植物群落的保护。这项研究表明，我们应对亚热带山脉采取不同的保护措施：庐山（LS）、关山（GS）、黄冈山（HG）和梵净山（FJ）应更多关注低地地区，而其他山脉应关注中海拔地区。这项研究有助于更好地理解不同尺度上物种多样性的海拔梯度，并为亚热带山区生物多样性保护提供支持性科学依据。
