Patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in non-commercial forests of eastern China

Wu, Chuping; Vellend, Mark; WeiGao, Yuan; Jiang, Bo; Li, Jiajia; Shen, Aihua; Liu, Jinliang; Zhu, Jiang; Yu, Mingjian

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188409

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“… and Wu et al. ); thus, these positive responses are somewhat novel in reports from northern latitudes. This association may reflect increased opportunity for coexistence of species with differing root architectures or rooting depth requirements, but additional work will be required to identify and evaluate the specific mechanisms underlying these relationships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

A structural equation model linking past and present plant diversity in Alaska: a framework for evaluating future change

et al. 2019

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2019. A structural equation model linking past and present plant diversity in Alaska: a framework for evaluating future change.Abstract. Recent findings of peak plant species diversity occurring in alpine tundra in Alaska may reflect the filtering of the regional species pool during Pleistocene Epoch cold periods. Specifically, herbaceous plant groups and those with far northern geographic distributions centered in Beringia may have persisted coincident with repeated diminution of tall-statured and southern continental plant groups during cold intervals, thus potentially structuring current diversity patterns in relation to elevation. Numerous biotic and abiotic drivers of plant species distributions vary with elevation, raising questions concerning which of these drivers are responsible for these surprising diversity patterns. We used structural equation modeling to investigate relationships among a suite of biotic and abiotic covariates and the richness of species groups based on growth form (GF) and biogeographic affinity across interior Alaska. Our results confirm the primary importance of microclimate in controlling the distribution, abundance, and richness of woody plants, which increased in warm, south-exposed plots. In contrast, the suite of other site factors had considerably stronger combined direct influences on richness of forbs, graminoids, and dwarf shrubs as compared to microclimate. Thus, species groups with negative richness responses to increasing temperature and potential solar radiation may have a competitive disadvantage to woody species, suggesting competitive displacement as one mechanism for these patterns. Our findings reveal that conditions associated with the high plant diversity (including cooler air temperatures, ground disturbance, and weakly acidic soil pH) are spatially restricted as compared to widespread conditions associated with low species diversity (warm lowlands with acidic soil reaction). Our results confirm a strong correspondence between localized richness patterns and variation in the overall fractions of the GF and biogeographic groups within the regional species pool. Our work suggests important links between current and historical drivers of plant diversity that help explain the apparent contradictions suggested by the relatively limited spatial extent of species-rich habitats in Alaska. By elucidating the relationships among biotic and abiotic site characteristics and between these characteristics and richness, our findings provide a useful framework within which to evaluate possible changes to vegetation structure and species richness patterns caused by rapid warming.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

A structural equation model linking past and present plant diversity in Alaska: a framework for evaluating future change

et al. 2019

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“…Large-diameter trees are occasionally found in secondary forest (Figure 1b). Secondary forests in China are dominated by regenerating forests that stay in early successional stages with few large-diameter trees [52,55]. For example, there are few trees DBH > 40 cm in the Thousand Island Lake region in Zhejiang province [45], and Baiyun Mountain in Guangdong province, which are representatives of China's forests regenerated from the 1960s [56].…”

Section: Status Of Large-diameter Trees In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Non-commercial forest refers to forest that has been protected from human intervention to maintain forest ecosystem functions [55]. The area of non-commercial forest in China is roughly 85 million ha [37], and composed mainly by secondary forests regenerated from the 1960s, with few large-diameter trees [54].…”

Section: Large-diameter Trees In Non-commercial Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The area of non-commercial forest in China is roughly 85 million ha [37], and composed mainly by secondary forests regenerated from the 1960s, with few large-diameter trees [54]. These forests usually have lower species diversity and structural complexity compared to old-growth forests [55]. Yet China's forestry policy on these forests is to forbid human disturbances and have them undergo natural succession.…”

Section: Large-diameter Trees In Non-commercial Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Management of Large-Diameter Trees in China’s Forests

Jiang

WeiGao

et al. 2020

Forests

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Large-diameter trees have mainly been used for timber production in forestry practices. Recently, their critical roles played in biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem functions have been recognized. However, current forestry policy on the management of large-diameter trees is weak. As China is the biggest consumer of large-diameter timbers, how to maintain sustainable large-diameter timber resources as well as maximize ecological functions of the forests is a critical question to address. Here we summarize historical uses, distribution patterns, and management strategies of large-diameter trees in China. We found that large-diameter trees are mainly distributed in old-growth forests. Although China’s forest cover has increased rapidly in the past decades, large-diameter trees are rarely found in plantation forests and secondary forests. We suggest that knowledge of large-diameter trees should be widely disseminated in local forestry departments, especially their irreplaceable value in terms of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functions. Protection of large-diameter trees, especially those in old-growth forests, is critical for sustainable forestry. To meet the increasing demand of large-diameter timbers, plantation forests and secondary forests should apply forest density management with thinning to cultivate more large-diameter trees.

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“…In mixed forests, more materials from deciduous trees are incorporated into mounds, while in coniferous forests the main construction materials are pine or spruce needles [39]. Moreover, while microscopic fungi have usually broad geographical ranges [79], different fungal taxa are associated with different plant species, their communities, or decaying organic matter originating from them [80,81]. Therefore, it is not unexpected that the ANOVA results suggest that nest mycobiota partially reflects the mycobiota of their respective surroundings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chance or Necessity—The Fungi Co−Occurring with Formica polyctena Ants

Siedlecki

Gorczak

Okrasińska

et al. 2021

Insects

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Studies on carton nesting ants and domatia−dwelling ants have shown that ant–fungi interactions may be much more common and widespread than previously thought. Until now, studies focused predominantly on parasitic and mutualistic fungi–ant interactions occurring mostly in the tropics, neglecting less−obvious interactions involving the fungi common in ants’ surroundings in temperate climates. In our study, we characterized the mycobiota of the surroundings of Formica polyctena ants by identifying nearly 600 fungal colonies that were isolated externally from the bodies of F. polyctena workers. The ants were collected from mounds found in northern and central Poland. Isolated fungi were assigned to 20 genera via molecular identification (ITS rDNA barcoding). Among these, Penicillium strains were the most frequent, belonging to eight different taxonomic sections. Other common and widespread members of Eurotiales, such as Aspergillus spp., were isolated very rarely. In our study, we managed to characterize the genera of fungi commonly present on F. polyctena workers. Our results suggest that Penicillium, Trichoderma, Mucor, Schwanniomyces and Entomortierella are commonly present in F. polyctena surroundings. Additionally, the high diversity and high frequency of Penicillium colonies isolated from ants in this study suggest that representatives of this genus may be adapted to survive in ant nests environment better than the other fungal groups, or that they are preferentially sustained by the insects in nests.

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Patterns and determinants of plant biodiversity in non-commercial forests of eastern China

Cited by 15 publications

References 61 publications

A structural equation model linking past and present plant diversity in Alaska: a framework for evaluating future change

A structural equation model linking past and present plant diversity in Alaska: a framework for evaluating future change

On the Management of Large-Diameter Trees in China’s Forests

Chance or Necessity—The Fungi Co−Occurring with Formica polyctena Ants

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