Different trends in phylogenetic and functional structure of plant communities along an elevation gradient

Kitagawa, Ryo; Koide, Dai; Mori, Akira

doi:10.1007/s11284-018-1638-5

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In our study, the NRI and NTI of plant communities with different forest strata showed a decrease with increasing altitude (Figure 4), indicating that the phylogenetic structure of the plant community was aggregated at low altitudes but tended to diverge at middle and high altitudes. These results contradict most studies that show low‐temperature filtering at high altitudes (Kitagawa et al, 2018; Qian et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2021). However, some studies in the Rocky Mountains (Bryant et al, 2008) and on Mt.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 93%

Taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives reveal the community assembly of different forest strata along an altitudinal gradient

Wan,

Chen,

et al. 2023

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Disentangling the distribution patterns of biodiversity along altitudinal gradients and their drivers has been a hot topic in ecological research. Different forest strata show multiple distribution patterns influenced by different community assembly mechanisms. Here, we measure the dominant ecological processes affecting three forest strata (tree, shrub, and herb layers) along altitudinal gradients. We sampled plants with different forest strata in 21 plots located from 2500 to 3700 m in Lasha Mountain, northwestern Yunnan. The taxonomic alpha diversity of the herb layer showed a monotonic decreasing trend with increasing altitude, while the shrub layer was characterized by a single peak, and the tree layer showed no significant change with increasing altitude. We observed a decreasing pattern of phylogenetic diversity with increasing altitude in the herb layer, whereas phylogenetic diversity did not change in the tree and shrub layers. The phylogenetic structure of these three layers showed the same pattern: phylogenetic clustering at low altitudes and overdispersion at middle and high altitudes. The diversity and phylogenetic structure of the herb layer were driven by climate (average dry season precipitation) and topographic (slope and aspect) factors, while shrub layer diversity was mainly influenced by tree layer richness. Overall, the phylogenetic structure pattern of the three forest strata changed from clustered to overdispersed with increasing altitude, indicating that environmental filtering was the main driver at low altitudes, while interspecific competition dominated at middle and high altitudes.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 93%

Taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives reveal the community assembly of different forest strata along an altitudinal gradient

Wan,

Chen,

et al. 2023

Ecological Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, the phylogenetic and functional structure patterns along the elevation gradient were incongruent, an observation frequently discussed in past studies [ 24 , 62 ]. This pattern suggests that trait and phylogenetic weights may not be fixedly associated [ 58 ], implying that relying solely on phylogenetic or functional dimensions to reveal community structure is inefficient.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Human Disturbance and Geometric Constraints Drive Small Mammal Diversity and Community Structure along an Elevational Gradient in Eastern China

Pei

Ren

et al. 2022

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding the mechanisms influencing patterns and processes of biological diversity is critical to protecting biodiversity, particularly in species-rich ecosystems such as mountains. Even so, there is limited knowledge of biodiversity patterns and processes in the mountains of eastern China, especially about small mammals. In this study, we examined the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of small mammal distribution and community structure along the elevational gradient of Qingliang Mountain, eastern China. We then evaluated how they are influenced by space (area and mid-domain effect (MDE)), environment (temperature, precipitation, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and human disturbance. The results showed hump-shaped patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity along elevation gradients, peaking at 1000 m, unlike functional diversity, which peaked at lower elevations (600 m). The mean pairwise distance and mean nearest taxon distance of functional and phylogenetic variance (MFD and MPD, respectively) were also incongruent. The MFD and MPD showed hump-shaped patterns along elevations; however, unlike MFD, which peaked at lower elevations (600 m), MPD peaked at higher elevations (1200 m). The mean nearest functional taxon distance (MNFD) decreased, while the mean nearest phylogenetic taxon distance (MNTD) increased along the elevation gradient. The higher elevations were functionally more clustered, while the lower elevations were phylogenetically more clustered, suggesting that environmental filtering for traits was stronger at higher elevations. In comparison, phylogenetic conservatism of ecological niches had a stronger influence at lower elevations. The diversity and community structure indices were inconsistently explained, with human disturbance and MDE accounting for the biggest proportions of the model-explained variances. Overall, the results confirm that environmental filtering and human disturbance significantly influence small mammals’ diversity and community structure. These findings also emphasize the need for increased conservation efforts in the middle and lower elevation regions of Qingliang Mountain.

show abstract

“…To adapt to the complex hydrothermal conditions in mid-elevation regions, plants have also evolved diverse functional properties ( Dıíaz and Cabido, 2001 ). However, the abundant species at higher elevations belonged to specific clades, and traits related to harsh environmental filtering at higher elevation evolved independently of phylogeny ( Kitagawa et al., 2018 ). Species that are able to overcome harsh environments and are common/dominant at high elevations have closer evolutionary distances, thus resulting in the relatively low phylogenetic diversity levels of common and dominant species at high elevations ( Webb et al., 2002 ; Qian, 2014 ; Kitagawa et al., 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effect of roads on mountain plant diversity beyond species richness

Luo

et al. 2022

Front. Plant Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A comprehensive understanding of the effects of mountain roads on plant diversity is critical to finding the most effective solutions for managing this particular driver. Little is known, however, about the simultaneous effects that road have on the multiple facets of biodiversity, although roads are considered to be one of the major disturbances in the Qionglai mountain range. In this study, we analyzed the impact of roads on the multiple facets of plant diversity (taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity) in the study area using Hill numbers by comparing plant diversity between roadside and interior plots at the landscape scale, then, we used linear mixed models to analyze the effect of mountain roads on the multiple facets of plant diversity along an elevational gradient. The results showed that the roadside plots lacked 29.45% of the total number of species with particular functional traits (such as a relatively high specific leaf area (SLA), a relatively low leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and relatively old clades) and exclusively contained 14.62% of the total number of species. Compared with the interior community, the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of roadside community decreased by no more than 26.78%, 24.90% and 16.62%, respectively. Taxonomic and functional diversity of dominant and common species showed greater changes to road disturbances, while rare species showed the greatest change in phylogenetic diversity. Taxonomic homogenization of roadside communities was accompanied by functional and phylogenetic homogenization. Additionally, the impact of roads on these three facets of plant diversity showed the characteristics of peak clipping along the elevation gradient. Our findings highlight the negative impact of roads on the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of the Qionglai mountain range, as roads promote communities that are more similar in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic composition, and to a greater extent contributed to compositional evenness. These effects tend to be functionally and phylogenetically non-random, and species in some clades or with some functional traits are at higher risk of loss. Our results are important for the conservation and management of nature reserves, especially for local governments aiming to create new infrastructure to connect natural mountainous areas.

show abstract

Different trends in phylogenetic and functional structure of plant communities along an elevation gradient

Cited by 9 publications

References 51 publications

Taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives reveal the community assembly of different forest strata along an altitudinal gradient

Taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives reveal the community assembly of different forest strata along an altitudinal gradient

Human Disturbance and Geometric Constraints Drive Small Mammal Diversity and Community Structure along an Elevational Gradient in Eastern China

Assessing the effect of roads on mountain plant diversity beyond species richness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About