The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains

ABSTRACT Mountains have been recognized as biodiversity hotspots and possess strong elevational gradients. Whether these gradients exhibit similar characteristics in the multidimensional diversity patterns across different mountain ranges is a subject of inquiry. Exploring the elevational patterns o...

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Main Authors: Kuiling Zu, Fusheng Chen, Chao Huang, Yuanqiu Liu, Fangchao Wang, Guojin Zhu, Wensheng Bu, Xiangmin Fang, Liping Guo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70722
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author Kuiling Zu
Fusheng Chen
Chao Huang
Yuanqiu Liu
Fangchao Wang
Guojin Zhu
Wensheng Bu
Xiangmin Fang
Liping Guo
author_facet Kuiling Zu
Fusheng Chen
Chao Huang
Yuanqiu Liu
Fangchao Wang
Guojin Zhu
Wensheng Bu
Xiangmin Fang
Liping Guo
author_sort Kuiling Zu
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Mountains have been recognized as biodiversity hotspots and possess strong elevational gradients. Whether these gradients exhibit similar characteristics in the multidimensional diversity patterns across different mountain ranges is a subject of inquiry. Exploring the elevational patterns of the diversity and phylogenetic information of plant species in the different subtropical mountains is necessary. Here, we compiled the elevational patterns of plant diversity occurring in the eight subtropical mountains of China and focused on the assessment of the patterns and determinants of the multi‐dimensional diversity and phylogenetic structure in different mountains. We also detected the elevational patterns and their relationship between different groups. The results indicate two main patterns of multi‐dimensional diversity: monotonic decrease and hump‐shaped, along with the area effect on the species diversity. There is a strong positive link between the non‐native and native species of species richness, and significant differences in phylogenetic structure's elevational distribution. We did not find the same rule in the mountains that the plant species in the lowlands indicate phylogenetic overdispersion, and the species in the higher elevation regions indicate phylogenetic clustering. We found that the plants' diversity peak is related to the mountains size, and this result showed that we should pay more attention to the conservation of plant communities in the higher elevation regions for the higher mountains. This study suggested that we should take different protective measures for the subtropical mountains: the lowland regions should be paid more attention in Mt. Lushan (LS), Mt. Guanshan (GS), Mt. Huanggang (HG), and Mt. Fanjing (FJ), and the middle‐altitude regions should be of concern for other mountains. This study helps to better understand the elevational gradients of species diversity on different scales and provides supporting scientific basis for biodiversity conservation in the subtropical mountain regions.
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spelling doaj-art-203cc93b1f8a4e7b92d15ec4de7a8aac2025-08-20T02:00:48ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-12-011412n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70722The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical MountainsKuiling Zu0Fusheng Chen1Chao Huang2Yuanqiu Liu3Fangchao Wang4Guojin Zhu5Wensheng Bu6Xiangmin Fang7Liping Guo8Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaJiangxi Key Laboratory of Subtropical Forest Resources Cultivation and Grassland Administration on Forest Ecosystem Protection and Restoration of Poyang Lake Watershed, College of Forestry Jiangxi Agricultural University Nanchang ChinaABSTRACT Mountains have been recognized as biodiversity hotspots and possess strong elevational gradients. Whether these gradients exhibit similar characteristics in the multidimensional diversity patterns across different mountain ranges is a subject of inquiry. Exploring the elevational patterns of the diversity and phylogenetic information of plant species in the different subtropical mountains is necessary. Here, we compiled the elevational patterns of plant diversity occurring in the eight subtropical mountains of China and focused on the assessment of the patterns and determinants of the multi‐dimensional diversity and phylogenetic structure in different mountains. We also detected the elevational patterns and their relationship between different groups. The results indicate two main patterns of multi‐dimensional diversity: monotonic decrease and hump‐shaped, along with the area effect on the species diversity. There is a strong positive link between the non‐native and native species of species richness, and significant differences in phylogenetic structure's elevational distribution. We did not find the same rule in the mountains that the plant species in the lowlands indicate phylogenetic overdispersion, and the species in the higher elevation regions indicate phylogenetic clustering. We found that the plants' diversity peak is related to the mountains size, and this result showed that we should pay more attention to the conservation of plant communities in the higher elevation regions for the higher mountains. This study suggested that we should take different protective measures for the subtropical mountains: the lowland regions should be paid more attention in Mt. Lushan (LS), Mt. Guanshan (GS), Mt. Huanggang (HG), and Mt. Fanjing (FJ), and the middle‐altitude regions should be of concern for other mountains. This study helps to better understand the elevational gradients of species diversity on different scales and provides supporting scientific basis for biodiversity conservation in the subtropical mountain regions.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70722biodiversity conservationelevational diversity patternsevolutional historynon‐native speciesphylogenetic structurespecies richness
spellingShingle Kuiling Zu
Fusheng Chen
Chao Huang
Yuanqiu Liu
Fangchao Wang
Guojin Zhu
Wensheng Bu
Xiangmin Fang
Liping Guo
The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
Ecology and Evolution
biodiversity conservation
elevational diversity patterns
evolutional history
non‐native species
phylogenetic structure
species richness
title The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
title_full The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
title_fullStr The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
title_full_unstemmed The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
title_short The Elevational Distribution Patterns of Plant Diversity and Phylogenetic Structure Vary Geographically Across Eight Subtropical Mountains
title_sort elevational distribution patterns of plant diversity and phylogenetic structure vary geographically across eight subtropical mountains
topic biodiversity conservation
elevational diversity patterns
evolutional history
non‐native species
phylogenetic structure
species richness
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70722
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