Relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors in shaping alpine meadow communities

Li, Qi; Yang, Xue; Soininen, Janne; Chu, Chengjin; Zhang, Jieqi; Yu, Kailiang; Wang, Gang

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtq034

Cited by 26 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In the present study, the trends observed in the abiotic factors (excluding soil mechanical properties) in the SF and NF aspects, and in terms of soil depth (Fig. 2), were similar to other studies (Sidari et al 2008, Li et al 2011, Ussiri and Lal 2013, Chen et al 2016. Although some studies found that pH decreases with increased soil depth (Sonmez et al 2014), the reverse has also been shown, as was found in this study and forage-based pastures in the subtropical region of southeastern United States (Sigua and Coleman 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…In the present study, the RDA showed that differences in plant community composition were largely driven by differences in ST regimes along the slope aspect gradient (Table 1), as was found by others (Gallardo-Cruz and Meave 2009, Yirdaw et al 2015). Alternatively, in other studies (Li et al 2011, Omary 2011, Lippok et al 2014, Yirdaw et al 2015 it was found that soil moisture was the main aspect-related factor controlling plant community composition. However, since average temperatures in the present study area are only 0.5°C but annual rainfall is 435 mm, the results of this study strongly indicate that ST was the primary limiting factor for plant spread, especially on the NF aspect.…”

Section: Factors Influencing the Plant Community Compositionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

et al. 2019

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Slope aspect can affect soil temperature and soil type distribution, which, in turn, is likely to influence plant community composition. Three Qilian mountains, located in the northeastern part of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China, with four distinct slope aspects including south‐facing (SF), southwest‐facing (SW), northwest‐facing (NW), and north‐facing (NF) slope aspects, were studied to investigate the impact of slope aspect on plant assemblages. The results indicated that the environmental conditions were favorable under the NF and NW slope aspects as the soil water, soil organic carbon (SOC), and soil total nitrogen (STN) contents were significantly higher, and soil temperature (ST) and soil bulk density (SBD) were significantly lower than under the SF and SW aspects. Under all slope aspects, however, SOC, STN, and soil total phosphate in the top 0.2 m of topsoil accounted for about 60% of its total quantity, to a soil depth of 0.6 m. The plant communities on the SF and SW slopes were found to be primarily composed of Poa pratensis, Potentilla anrisena, and Carex aridula. In contrast, the plant community on the NW slope was mainly composed of Kobresia humilis, Carex crebra, and Potentilla bifurca, while on the NF slope it was mainly composed of Picea crassifolia, Carex scabrirostris, and Polygonum macrophyllum. The order of the influence of environmental factors on species distributions was ST > SBD > sand > STN. Results suggest that the slope aspect has an important role in the regulation of the soil environment and plant assemblages and that ST and SBD were the main factors influencing plant community composition. Furthermore, evidence from this study suggests that these mountains will become increasingly vulnerable to global warming. Thus, the plant community composition on these mountains must be monitored continuously in order to allow for strategic adaptive management.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Factors Influencing the Plant Community Compositionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

et al. 2019

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“…However, we found a comparatively larger contribution of the environmental variables to β‐diversity, as noted in Li et al. ().…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Partitioning the variation of woody plant β‐diversity in a landscape of secondary tropical dry forests across spatial scales

López‐Martínez

Hernández‐Stefanoni

Dupuy

et al. 2012

J Vegetation Science

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Question What is the relative importance of forest successional age, environmental heterogeneity, landscape structure and spatial structure of sampling sites on β‐diversity of tropical dry forests (TDF)? How do the magnitude of β‐diversity and the relative influence of factors, processes and mechanisms driving β‐diversity differ at different spatial grains? What are the effects of stand age on β‐diversity? Location Yucatán Peninsula, México. Methods Floristic composition was obtained from a hierarchical survey performed in 276 sites distributed across 23 sampling landscapes (SL) (12 sites per SL). Land‐cover classes were derived from the classification of multi‐spectral SPOT 5 satellite imagery. We calculated landscape metrics of patch type for each SL, and characterized local soil conditions for each sampling site. A principal coordinates of neighbour matrices (PCNM) analysis was performed to estimate spatial variables, and partial redundancy analysis was used to decompose variation into spatial, stand age and landscape structure components. Results The magnitude of β‐diversity varied with spatial scale (grain size), and was larger at the local than at the landscape grain. The magnitude of β‐diversity also decreased slightly but significantly with successional age. There were significant differences in species composition among vegetation classes. Environmental factors (local soil conditions, as well as landscape structure) and spatial structure both contributed to woody plant β‐diversity in our TDF landscape, but their relative importance was scale‐dependent. At the local grain size, both the environment (mainly soil conditions) and the spatial structure strongly affected β‐diversity, while at the landscape grain, environmental factors (variation in soil conditions, as well as landscape configuration) played a more prominent role. Conclusions The magnitude of β‐diversity decreased with increasing spatial grain and successional age, while the relative importance of mechanisms influencing β‐diversity was scale‐dependent: both niche partitioning and dispersal limitation affect β‐diversity at the local grain size, while niche partitioning prevails at the landscape grain.

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“…This unexplained variation in species distribution patterns may be due to unknown environmental factors, historical factors or dispersion limitations. Thus, the variance partition model has become extremely important in the field of ecology and has been extensively applied in recent studies (e.g., Jones et al 2008;Li et al 2011;Al-Shami et al 2013). This method is used to numerically separate the roles of spatial structure and environmental filtering in community data (Cottenie 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Humidity, low temperature extremes, and space influence floristic variation across an insightful gradient in the Subtropical Atlantic Forest

et al. 2015

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The use of well-sampled regions and insightful environmental gradients can provide important theoretical knowledge for understanding the drivers of tropical forest patterns and processes, which are necessary for biological conservation. We investigated the variation in tree species composition across a vegetation gradient in the Subtropical Atlantic Forest, as well as various predictors that could impact such patterns. The exploratory and confirmatory analyses included 178 sampling units distributed among 13 different forest types containing binary occurrence records for 935 species from 25,546 trees.Confirmatory analyses were conducted considering spatial autocorrelation, a well-known factor responsible for type I error inflations. The floristic heterogeneity of the study area was revealed by clear patterns of floristic differentiation between vegetation types, as well as by the significant improvements in local models (GWR-geographically weighted regressions) over global models (OLS-ordinary least squares). We found that the observed floristic variation has most likely been driven by humidity from the Atlantic Ocean, low temperature extremes and geographic distance. The latter was revealed by the high contribution of spatial components to the partial models. These results from a shrinking biological hotspot, particularly those concerning the importance of temperature extremes, represent crucial data for identifying conservation priorities, especially considering the seriousness of the temperature shifts predicted by global climate change scenarios.

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Relative importance of spatial processes and environmental factors in shaping alpine meadow communities

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

Controlling factors of plant community composition with respect to the slope aspect gradient in the Qilian Mountains

Partitioning the variation of woody plant β‐diversity in a landscape of secondary tropical dry forests across spatial scales

Humidity, low temperature extremes, and space influence floristic variation across an insightful gradient in the Subtropical Atlantic Forest

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