Patterns of plant beta‐diversity along elevational and latitudinal gradients in mountain forests of China

Abstract

Biodiversity patterns and their underlying mechanisms have long been focal topics of study for ecologists and biogeographers. However, compared with spatial variation in species richness (a-and g-diversity), b-diversity, or the dissimilarity of species composition between two or more sites has until recently received limited attention. In this study, we explored the large-scale patterns of altitudinal turnover (b-diversity) of plants in montane forests of China, based on systematic inventories of 1153 plots from 46 mountains distributed over ~ 30 degrees of latitude (21.9-51.7°N) and ~ 4100 m of altitude (160-4250 m). The b-diversity of trees and shrubs declined significantly with increasing latitude. Along the altitudinal gradient, b-diversity of both trees and shrubs showed non-significant trends in most mountains. Differences in climate explained ~ 30.0% of the variation in tree b-diversity (27.7, 36.5, and 26.2% for the Jaccard's, b j , Sorenson's, b s , and Simpson's dissimilarity, b sim , respectively), with mean annual temperature being most important, and  10.0% of that in shrub b-diversity (10.0, 8.2, and 7.0% for b j , b s , and b sim , respectively), with annual actual evapotranspiration and annual precipitation as the main predictors. However, climatic controls of b-diversity varied dramatically in different biogeograpical regions. The b-diversity of trees exhibited stronger, whereas that of shrubs showed weaker, climatic patterns in temperate and arid than subtropical regions. These results suggest that mechanisms causing patterns of b-diversity may differ between latitudinal and altitudinal gradients, and among biogeographical regions; as a result, caution should be exercised in drawing close parallels between patterns and causes of b-diversity along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients and among regions.

Woody Species Composition in Relation to Spatial and Environmental Gradients in Acacia-Commiphora Vegetation Ecosystem of Ethiopia

“…This pattern may also indicate the indirect impact of altitudinal gradients and topographic aspects on the species composition by limiting the habitat quality and suitability such as soil fertility, precipitation and temperature to support the vegetation which thereby shape the spatial structure of the community assemblages [29][30][31][32][33]11]. Moreover, our study is in congruent with the findings of the previous studies [33][34][35][36] that indicated the effect of altitude gradient on species composition. Here, the species composition may be determined by the ecological processes such as environmental filters, biotic interactions and species specific neutral mechanism properties such as dispersal limitation [20,30,37,38].…”

Diversity and distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi along altitudinal gradients in Mount Taibai of the Qinling Mountains

“…The mountains provide a natural boundary between the north and the south of the country and between the temperate and tropical zones, and support a huge variety of plants and wildlife, making the Qinling Mountains one of the hotspots for species richness in China. Although elevational patterns of diversity for plants and animals are well established in the Qinling Mountains (Tang et al 2012), we know little about how AMF diversity varies across elevational gradients. This is a serious gap in our general understanding of biodiversity, given that AMF are abundant and diverse and play a central role in ecosystem functioning and processes (Smith and Read 2008).…”

Contribution of environmental filtering and dispersal limitation to species turnover of temperate deciduous broad‐leaved forests in China

“…; Tuomisto ,b; Tang et al. ,b). Previous studies have extensively explored mechanisms underlying the spatial turnover of species, among which niche theory and neutral theory have gained most attention.…”

“…; Tang et al. ), partly because of the dependence of species interactions and environmental filtering on temperature (Sakai & Weiser ; Huntley et al. ; Randin et al.…”