Topography and space are two important factors determining plant species assemblages in forest communities.Quantification of the contribution of these two factors in determining species distribution helps us to evalua...Topography and space are two important factors determining plant species assemblages in forest communities.Quantification of the contribution of these two factors in determining species distribution helps us to evaluate their relative importance in determining species assemblages.This study aims to disentangle the effect of topography and space on the distributions of 14 dominant species in a subtropical mixed forest.Spearman correlation analysis and the torustranslation test were used to test the species–habitat associations.Variation partitioning was used to quantify the relative contributions of topography and space at three sampling scales and three life stages.Correlation analyses and torus-translation tests showed species abundance was mostly correlated with topographic wetness index,vertical distance from the channel network and convexity.Variation partitioning showed that pure topography,pure space and spatially structured topography explained about 2.1 %,41.2 % and 13.8 %of the variation in species distributions,respectively.For nine species,total topography fractions peaked in 20 m quadrats.For ten species,the pure space fractions peaked in 50 m quadrats.For many species,the total topography fraction andthe pure space fraction were larger for the most abundant life stages,which reflected the importance of sampling effect.However,some cases did not follow this trend suggesting that the effects of ecological processes such as habitat filtering,density dependence or dispersal limitation may exceed the sampling effects.In conclusion,we found that spatially structured topography and pure space primarily shaped the distribution of dominant tree species.Furthermore,their effects were both scale- and life stage-dependent.展开更多
Fine roots play key roles in belowground C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems.Based on their distinct functions,fi ne roots are either absorptive fi ne roots(AFRs)or transport fi ne roots(TFRs).However,the function-bas...Fine roots play key roles in belowground C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems.Based on their distinct functions,fi ne roots are either absorptive fi ne roots(AFRs)or transport fi ne roots(TFRs).However,the function-based fi ne root dynamics of trees and their responses to forest stand properties remain unclear.Here,we studied the dynamics of AFRs and TFRs and their responses to stand conditions and root density in a subtropical montane mixed forest based on a 2-a root window experiment.Mean(±SE)annual production,mortality,and turnover rate of AFRs were 7.87±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),8.13±0.20 m m^(−2)a^(−1)and 2.96±0.24 a^(−1),respectively,compared with 7.09±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),4.59±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),and 2.01±0.22 a^(−1),respectively,for TFRs.The production and mortality of fi ne roots were signifi cantly higher in high root-density sites than in low-root density sites,whereas the turnover of fi ne roots was faster in the low root-density sites.Furthermore,root density had a larger positive eff ect than other environmental factors on TFR production but had no obvious impact on AFR production.Tree species diversity had an apparent positive eff ect on AFR production and was the crucial driver of AFR production,probably due to a complementary eff ect,but had no evident impact on TFR.Both tree density and tree species diversity were positively correlated with the mortality of AFRs and negatively related to the turnover of TFRs,suggesting that higher root density caused stronger competition for rooting space and that plants tend to reduce maintenance costs by decreasing TFR turnover.These fi ndings illustrated the importance of root functional groups in understanding root dynamics and their responses to changes in environmental conditions.展开更多
Aims Topography has long been recognized as an important factor in shaping species distributions.Many studies revealed that species may show species-habitat associations.However,few studies inves-tigate how species as...Aims Topography has long been recognized as an important factor in shaping species distributions.Many studies revealed that species may show species-habitat associations.However,few studies inves-tigate how species assemblages are associated with local habitats,and it still remains unclear how the community-habitat associa-tions vary with species abundance class and life stage.In this study,we analyzed the community-habitat associations in a subtropical montane forest.Methods The fully mapped 25-ha(500×500 m)forest plot is located in Badagongshan Nature Reserve in Hunan Province,Central China.It was divided into 625(20×20 m)quadrats.Habitat types were classified by multivariate regression tree analyses that cluster areas with similar species composition according to the topographic characteristics.Indicator species analysis was used to identify the most important species for structuring species assemblages.We also compared the community-habitat associations for two levels of species abundances(i.e.abundant and rare)and three different life stages(i.e.saplings,juveniles and adults),while accounting for sample size effects.Important Findings The Badagongshan plot was divided into five distinct habitat types,which explained 34.7%of the variance in tree species composi-tion.Even with sample size taken into account,community-habi-tat associations for rare species were much weaker than those for abundant species.Also when accounting for sample size,very small differences were found in the variance explained by topography for the three life stages.Indicator species of habitat types were mainly abundant species,and nearly all adult stage indicator species were also indicators in juvenile and sapling stages.Our study manifested that topographical habitat filtering was important in shaping over-all local species compositions.However,habitat filtering was not important in shaping rare species’distributions in this forest.The community-habitat association patterns in this forest were mainly shaped by abundant species.In 展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31270562 and 31200329)the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network(29200931131101919)
文摘Topography and space are two important factors determining plant species assemblages in forest communities.Quantification of the contribution of these two factors in determining species distribution helps us to evaluate their relative importance in determining species assemblages.This study aims to disentangle the effect of topography and space on the distributions of 14 dominant species in a subtropical mixed forest.Spearman correlation analysis and the torustranslation test were used to test the species–habitat associations.Variation partitioning was used to quantify the relative contributions of topography and space at three sampling scales and three life stages.Correlation analyses and torus-translation tests showed species abundance was mostly correlated with topographic wetness index,vertical distance from the channel network and convexity.Variation partitioning showed that pure topography,pure space and spatially structured topography explained about 2.1 %,41.2 % and 13.8 %of the variation in species distributions,respectively.For nine species,total topography fractions peaked in 20 m quadrats.For ten species,the pure space fractions peaked in 50 m quadrats.For many species,the total topography fraction andthe pure space fraction were larger for the most abundant life stages,which reflected the importance of sampling effect.However,some cases did not follow this trend suggesting that the effects of ecological processes such as habitat filtering,density dependence or dispersal limitation may exceed the sampling effects.In conclusion,we found that spatially structured topography and pure space primarily shaped the distribution of dominant tree species.Furthermore,their effects were both scale- and life stage-dependent.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.3217159931870465).
文摘Fine roots play key roles in belowground C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems.Based on their distinct functions,fi ne roots are either absorptive fi ne roots(AFRs)or transport fi ne roots(TFRs).However,the function-based fi ne root dynamics of trees and their responses to forest stand properties remain unclear.Here,we studied the dynamics of AFRs and TFRs and their responses to stand conditions and root density in a subtropical montane mixed forest based on a 2-a root window experiment.Mean(±SE)annual production,mortality,and turnover rate of AFRs were 7.87±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),8.13±0.20 m m^(−2)a^(−1)and 2.96±0.24 a^(−1),respectively,compared with 7.09±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),4.59±0.17 m m^(−2)a^(−1),and 2.01±0.22 a^(−1),respectively,for TFRs.The production and mortality of fi ne roots were signifi cantly higher in high root-density sites than in low-root density sites,whereas the turnover of fi ne roots was faster in the low root-density sites.Furthermore,root density had a larger positive eff ect than other environmental factors on TFR production but had no obvious impact on AFR production.Tree species diversity had an apparent positive eff ect on AFR production and was the crucial driver of AFR production,probably due to a complementary eff ect,but had no evident impact on TFR.Both tree density and tree species diversity were positively correlated with the mortality of AFRs and negatively related to the turnover of TFRs,suggesting that higher root density caused stronger competition for rooting space and that plants tend to reduce maintenance costs by decreasing TFR turnover.These fi ndings illustrated the importance of root functional groups in understanding root dynamics and their responses to changes in environmental conditions.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(31270562,30900178,31200329 and 31500337)Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology,CAS(Y455432J02)the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network(29200931131101919).
文摘Aims Topography has long been recognized as an important factor in shaping species distributions.Many studies revealed that species may show species-habitat associations.However,few studies inves-tigate how species assemblages are associated with local habitats,and it still remains unclear how the community-habitat associa-tions vary with species abundance class and life stage.In this study,we analyzed the community-habitat associations in a subtropical montane forest.Methods The fully mapped 25-ha(500×500 m)forest plot is located in Badagongshan Nature Reserve in Hunan Province,Central China.It was divided into 625(20×20 m)quadrats.Habitat types were classified by multivariate regression tree analyses that cluster areas with similar species composition according to the topographic characteristics.Indicator species analysis was used to identify the most important species for structuring species assemblages.We also compared the community-habitat associations for two levels of species abundances(i.e.abundant and rare)and three different life stages(i.e.saplings,juveniles and adults),while accounting for sample size effects.Important Findings The Badagongshan plot was divided into five distinct habitat types,which explained 34.7%of the variance in tree species composi-tion.Even with sample size taken into account,community-habi-tat associations for rare species were much weaker than those for abundant species.Also when accounting for sample size,very small differences were found in the variance explained by topography for the three life stages.Indicator species of habitat types were mainly abundant species,and nearly all adult stage indicator species were also indicators in juvenile and sapling stages.Our study manifested that topographical habitat filtering was important in shaping over-all local species compositions.However,habitat filtering was not important in shaping rare species’distributions in this forest.The community-habitat association patterns in this forest were mainly shaped by abundant species.In
