Contributions of precipitation and temperature to the large scale geographic distribution of fleshy-fruited plant species: Growth form matters

Abstract

Fruit type, an important reproductive trait, is closely related to reproduction strategy, community dynamics and biotic interactions. However, limited research has explored the geographic distribution of fruit type and the underlying abiotic factors influencing this on a large scale. Here we aim to study large-scale distribution patterns of fleshy-fruited plant species and the most important environmental drivers for different growth forms in utilizing the fruit type and distribution data for over 27000 plant species in China. Results indicated that the proportion of fleshy-fruited species was higher in southeast China, and this pattern was consistent between different growth forms. Overall, the proportion of fleshy-fruited species was higher in wet, warm, and stable environments. Notably, mean annual precipitation had the greatest predictive contribution to woody fleshy-fruited species distributions, but mean annual temperature best predicted the herbaceous fleshy-fruited species distributions. We provide the first map of a large-scale distribution of fleshy-fruited plant species for different growth forms in the northern hemisphere and show that these geographic patterns are mainly determined by contrasting climatic gradients. Recognizing that climate factors have different relationships with different growth forms of fleshy-fruited species advances our knowledge about fruit type and environment. This work contributes to predictions of the global distribution of fleshy-fruited species under future climate change scenarios and provides a reference for continued research on the complex interactions between plants, frugivores and the environment.

Geographic patterns and environmental correlates of taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity for large‐scale angiosperm assemblages in China

“…Because there are few inventory‐based species checklists of vascular plants at the spatial scale of 10 000 km 2 in China, we are not able to assess the degree of completeness of the species lists used in this study for 100 × 100 km grid cells. Considering that the species lists of 100 × 100 km grid cells reported by Lu et al (2018) and by others for Chinese plants have been commonly used in macroecological studies (Feng et al 2016, Lu et al 2018, Xu et al 2018, Zhao et al 2018, Ye et al 2019), the use of occurrence data compiled for Chinese plants in 100 × 100 km grid cells in the present study is consistent with the current literature. Furthermore, because the plant data used in this study is an updated version of the data reported by Lu et al (2018), with 10.5 millions of specimen records from NSII and GBIF (Qian et al 2018) and over 200 local and regional floras (Qian et al 2017, 2018) having been used to update Lu et al's data, we believe the species lists used in this study are more complete than those used in most, if not all, of previous macroecological studies on Chinese plants at the spatial scale of 10 000 km 2 .…”

Effects of Climate, Plant Height, and Evolutionary Age on Geographical Patterns of Fruit Type

“…This might be due to the fact that neither temperature nor precipitation alone could reflect the actual amount of energy and water that plants use for growth (Moles et al, 2014). These findings are in contrast with previous studies on the determinants of fruit type compositions (Chen et al, 2017;Zhao et al, 2018). For example, a recent study on the geographical pattern in the prevalence of fleshy-fruited angiosperm species in Australia (Chen et al, 2017) indicated that precipitation dominated the geographical variations in the proportion of fleshy-fruited species.…”

Predicting the current and future distribution of four original plants of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix in China under climate change scenarios

“…The development, formation and distribution of plants are closely integrated with climate factors, especially temperature and precipitation [31]. First, we found that the variables contributing to the models of the four species were isothermality (Bio3) and mean temperature of the warmest quarter (Bio10).…”

“…Changes in the areas and centroids of the highly suitable habitats for Gentiana macrophylla Pall and unchanged areas under future climate scenariosDiscussionThe development, formation and distribution of plants are closely integrated with climate factors, especially temperature and precipitation[31]. First, we found that the variables contributing to the models of the four species were isothermality (Bio3) and mean temperature of the warmest quarter (Bio10).…”