Climatic seasonality is linked to the occurrence of the mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forests in China

Abstract

Evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved tree species can coexist across the globe and constitute different broad‐leaved forests along large‐scale geographical and climatic gradients. A better understanding of climatic influence on the distribution of mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forest is of fundamental importance when assessing this mixed forest's resilience and predicting potential dynamics of broad‐leaved forests under future climate change. Here, we quantified the horizontal distribution of this mixed forest in mountains in relation to climate seasonality by compiling vegetation information from the earlier records and our own field sampling on major subtropical mountains of China. We found that the probability of occurrence of this forest in subtropical mountains was positively associated with the latitude but not the longitude. The occurrence probability of this forest was observed at high‐temperature but not precipitation seasonality mountains. Temperature seasonality was five times more important than precipitation seasonality in explaining the total variation of occurrence of this mixed forest. For its distribution, our results shed light on that temperature seasonality was generally a more powerful predictor than precipitation seasonality for montane mixed forest distribution. Collectively, this study clearly underscores the important role of temperature seasonality, a previously not quantified climatic variable, in the occurrence of this mixed forest along geographical gradients and hence yields useful insight into our understanding of climate–vegetation relationships and climate change vulnerability assessment in a changing climate.

Environment shapes tree community traits in China's forests

“…This result could have been related to the shift in vegetation types. The forest types are evergreen broad‐leaved forests, mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forests, deciduous broad‐leaved forests and evergreen coniferous forest along latitudinal gradient, and the pattern is related to climate (Ge & Xie, 2017; Ge et al, 2019). The middle of the climate gradient contains many plots of mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forests.…”

Phylogenomics insights into gene evolution, rapid species diversification, and morphological innovation of the apple tribe (Maleae, Rosaceae)

“…Among these fruit traits, color is important for horticulture and for attracting fruit‐eating animals, which facilitates seed dispersal (Cazetta et al ., 2009). Additionally, leaf habit (evergreen vs deciduous) is key functional traits of trees to adapt and respond to various climates and impacts the broadleaf forest ecosystems (Malhado et al ., 2010; Ge et al ., 2019). Maleae includes numerous deciduous species (e.g.…”

Environmental correlates of tree functional diversity with different leaf habits across subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests

“…Woody plants can be divided into evergreen and deciduous species according to their leaf habits (Tomlinson et al, 2013). Evergreen and deciduous broadleaved species can coexist and constitute broadleaved forests with mixed proportions along large‐scale geographical and climatic gradients (van Ommen Kloeke et al, 2012; Ge et al, 2019). The distribution patterns of deciduous vs evergreen plants have long interested ecologists and biogeographers (Kikuzawa, 1991; Ge et al, 2019).…”

“…Evergreen and deciduous broadleaved species can coexist and constitute broadleaved forests with mixed proportions along large‐scale geographical and climatic gradients (van Ommen Kloeke et al, 2012; Ge et al, 2019). The distribution patterns of deciduous vs evergreen plants have long interested ecologists and biogeographers (Kikuzawa, 1991; Ge et al, 2019). Evidence showed a broad range of environments where both evergreen and deciduous species are viable at the same location (van Ommen Kloeke et al, 2012; Ye et al, 2022), and several models and explanations have been proposed to account for these patterns.…”