Phylogenetic patterns of shrub communities along the longitudinal and latitudinal gradients on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Biodiversity distribution patterns are a basic and long-standing but crucial aspect of ecology research. These patterns form the primary source of data used to develop biodiversity protection practices, especially in mountain ecosystems. Shrubs comprise one of the main types of vegetation on the Qin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mountain science 2020-05, Vol.17 (5), p.1106-1114
Main Authors: Xiao, Yuan-ming, Yang, Lu-cun, Nie, Xiu-qing, Li, Chang-bin, Xiong, Feng, Zhou, Guo-ying
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Climate
Climate change
Distribution
Distribution patterns
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Ecological function
Ecological research
Ecology
Environment
Geography
Latitudinal variations
Mountain ecosystems
Mountains
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Plateaus
Shrubs
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Summary:Biodiversity distribution patterns are a basic and long-standing but crucial aspect of ecology research. These patterns form the primary source of data used to develop biodiversity protection practices, especially in mountain ecosystems. Shrubs comprise one of the main types of vegetation on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, where they serve vital ecological functions. In this study, we used a community phylogenetic approach to examine the distribution patterns of shrub communities along the longitudinal and latitudinal gradients on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. We observed significant latitudinal trends in both the phylogenetic diversity (PD) and net relatedness index (NRI) values of shrub communities, such that the former decreased and the latter increased with increasing latitude. However, no significant PD, NRI and nearest taxon index (NTI) distribution patterns were observed along a longitudinal gradient. A further analysis revealed that the combination of temperature-related and precipitation-related climate variables most strongly affected the PD, NRI and NTI values of shrub communities, indicating that the latitudinal patterns in the PD, NRI and NTI of a shrub community may be determined mainly by interactions with these climate factors.
ISSN:1672-6316
1993-0321
1008-2786
DOI:10.1007/s11629-019-5561-1