Distribution Pattern of Gymnosperms' Richness in Nepal: Effect of Environmental Constrains along Elevational Gradients

Understanding the pattern of species distribution and the underlying mechanism is essential for conservation planning. Several climatic variables determine the species diversity, and the dependency of species on climate motivates ecologists and bio-geographers to explain the richness patterns along...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plants (Basel) 2020-05, Vol.9 (5), p.625
Main Authors: Pandey, Bikram, Nepal, Nirdesh, Tripathi, Salina, Pan, Kaiwen, Dakhil, Mohammed A, Timilsina, Arbindra, Justine, Meta F, Koirala, Saroj, Nepali, Kamal B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Climate change
Climate effects
Distribution patterns
Ecologists
Elevation
Energy
energy-water
Environmental effects
Environmental indicators
Flowers & plants
Generalized linear models
Geographical distribution
Gymnosperms
Hypotheses
mid-elevation peak
physical-tolerance
Precipitation
Sea level
Seasonal variations
Species diversity
Species richness
species richness patterns
Statistical models
Topography
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Summary:Understanding the pattern of species distribution and the underlying mechanism is essential for conservation planning. Several climatic variables determine the species diversity, and the dependency of species on climate motivates ecologists and bio-geographers to explain the richness patterns along with elevation and environmental correlates. We used interpolated elevational distribution data to examine the relative importance of climatic variables in determining the species richness pattern of 26 species of gymnosperms in the longest elevation gradients in the world. Thirteen environmental variables were divided into three predictors set representing each hypothesis model (energy-water, physical-tolerance, and climatic-seasonality); to explain the species richness pattern of gymnosperms along the elevational gradient. We performed generalized linear models and variation partitioning to evaluate the relevant role of environmental variables on species richness patterns. Our findings showed that the gymnosperms' richness formed a hump-shaped distribution pattern. The individual effect of energy-water predictor set was identified as the primary determinant of species richness. While, the joint effects of energy-water and physical-tolerance predictors have explained highest variations in gymnosperm distribution. The multiple environmental indicators are essential drivers of species distribution and have direct implications in understanding the effect of climate change on the species richness pattern.
ISSN:2223-7747
2223-7747
DOI:10.3390/plants9050625