Aims Beta diversity is the variation in species composition among sites in a geographic region.Beta diversity is a key concept for understanding the functioning of ecosystems,for the conservation of biodiversity and f...Aims Beta diversity is the variation in species composition among sites in a geographic region.Beta diversity is a key concept for understanding the functioning of ecosystems,for the conservation of biodiversity and for ecosystem management.The present report describes how to analyse beta diversity from community composition and associated environmental and spatial data tables.Methods Beta diversity can be studied by computing diversity indices for each site and testing hypotheses about the factors that may explain the variation among sites.Alternatively,one can carry out a direct analysis of the community composition data table over the study sites,as a function of sets of environmental and spatial variables.These analyses are carried out by the statistical method of partitioning the variation of the diversity indices or the community composition data table with respect to environmental and spatial variables.Variation partitioning is briefly described herein.Important findings Variation partitioning is a method of choice for the interpretation of beta diversity using tables of environmental and spatial variables.Beta diversity is an interesting‘currency’for ecologists to compare either different sampling areas or different ecological communities cooccurring in an area.Partitioning must be based upon unbiased estimates of the variation of the community composition data table that is explained by the various tables of explanatory variables.The adjusted coefficient of determination provides such an unbiased estimate in both multiple regression and canonical redundancy analysis.After partitioning,one can test the significance of the fractions of interest and plot maps of the fitted values corresponding to these fractions.展开更多
Aims The relative roles of ecological processes in structuring beta diver-sity are usually quantified by variation partitioning of beta diversity with respect to environmental and spatial variables or gamma di-versity...Aims The relative roles of ecological processes in structuring beta diver-sity are usually quantified by variation partitioning of beta diversity with respect to environmental and spatial variables or gamma di-versity.However,if important environmental or spatial factors are omitted,or a scale mismatch occurs in the analysis,unaccounted spatial correlation will appear in the residual errors and lead to re-sidual spatial correlation and problematic inferences.Methods Multi-scale ordination(MSO)partitions the canonical ordination results by distance into a set of empirical variograms which charac-terize the spatial structures of explanatory,conditional and residual variance against distance.Then these variance components can be used to diagnose residual spatial correlation by checking assump-tions related to geostatistics or regression analysis.In this paper,we first illustrate the performance of MSO using a simulated data set with known properties,thus making statistical issues explicit.We then test for significant residual spatial correlation in beta diversity analyses of the Gutianshan(GTS)24-ha subtropical forest plot in eastern China.Important Findings Even though we used up to 24 topographic and edaphic variables mapped at high resolution and spatial variables representing spa-tial structures at all scales,we still found significant residual spatial correlation at the 10 m×10 m quadrat scale.This invalidated the analysis and inferences at this scale.We also show that MSO pro-vides a complementary tool to test for significant residual spatial correlation in beta diversity analyses.Our results provided a strong argument supporting the need to test for significant residual spatial correlation before interpreting the results of beta diversity analyses.展开更多
Comparative analyses in ecology and evolution often face the challenge of controlling for the effects of shared ancestry(phylogeny)from those of ecological or trait-based predictors on species traits.Phylogenetic Gene...Comparative analyses in ecology and evolution often face the challenge of controlling for the effects of shared ancestry(phylogeny)from those of ecological or trait-based predictors on species traits.Phylogenetic Generalized Linear Models(PGLMs)address this issue by integrating phylogenetic relationships into statistical models.However,accurately partitioning explained variance among correlated predictors remains challenging.The phylolm.hp R package tackles this problem by extending the concept of“average shared variance”to PGLMs,enabling nuanced quantificationof the relative importance of phylogeny and other predictors.The package calculates individual likelihood-based R^(2) contributions of phylogeny and each predictor,accounting for both unique and shared explained variance.This approach overcomes limitations of traditional partial R^(2) methods,which often fail to sum the total R^(2) due to multicollinearity.We demonstrate the functionality of phylolm.hp through two case studies:one involving continuous trait data(maximum tree height in Californian species)and another focusing on binary trait data(species invasiveness in North American forests).The phylolm.hp package offers researchers a powerful tool to disentangle the contributions of phylogenetic and ecological predictors in comparative analyses.展开更多
Understanding the factors that drive variation in species distribution is a central theme of ecological research. Although several studies focused on alpine vegetation, few efforts have been made to identify the envir...Understanding the factors that drive variation in species distribution is a central theme of ecological research. Although several studies focused on alpine vegetation, few efforts have been made to identify the environmental factors that are responsible for the variations in species composition and richness of alpine shrublands using numerical methods. In the present study, we investigated vegetation and associated environmental variables from 45 sample plots in the middle Qilian Mountains of the northwestern China to classify different community types and to elucidate the species- environment relationships. We also estimated the relative contributions of topography and site conditions to spatial distribution patterns of the shrub communities using the variation partitioning. The results showed that four shrub community types were identified and striking differences in fioristic composition were found among them. Species composition greatly depended on elevation, slope, shrub cover, soil pH and organic carbon. The important determinants of species richness were soil bulk density and slope. No significant differences in species richness were detected among the community types. Topography and site conditions had almost equal effects on compositional variation. Nonetheless,a large amount of the variation in species composition remained unexplained.展开更多
Climate warming is expected to advance treelines to higher elevations. However, empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines as well as rather insignificant responses. ...Climate warming is expected to advance treelines to higher elevations. However, empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines as well as rather insignificant responses. In this context, we aim at investigating the sensitivity and responsiveness of the near-natural treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal, to climate warming. We analysed population densities of tree species along the treeline ecotone from closed forest stands via the krummholz belt to alpine dwarf shrub heaths （3700-4200 m） at 50 plots in 2013 and 2014. We quantified species - environment relationships, i.e. the change of environmental conditions （e.g., nutrient and thermal deficits, plant interactions） across the ecotone by means of redundancy analyses, variation partitioning and distance-based Moran＇s eigenvector maps. In particular, we focus on explaining the high competitiveness of Rhododendron campanulatum forming a dense krummholz belt and on the implications for the responsiveness of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate change. Results indicate that treeline trees in the ecotone show species-specific responses to the influence of environmental parameters, and that juvenile and adult tree responses are modulated by environmental constraints in differing intensity. Moreover, the species - environment relationships suggest that the investigated krummholz belt will largely prevent the upward migration of other tree constrain the future response species and thus of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate warming.展开更多
Understanding the underlying processes of how communities are structured remains a central question in community ecology. However, the mechanisms of the soil animal community are still unclear, especially for communit...Understanding the underlying processes of how communities are structured remains a central question in community ecology. However, the mechanisms of the soil animal community are still unclear, especially for communities on a small scale. To evaluate the relative roles of biotic interactions and environmental and spatial processes in a soil collembolan community, a field experiment was carried out on a small scale(50 m) in the farmland ecosystem of the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. In August and October, 2011, we took 100 samples each month in a 50 m × 50 m plot using a spatially delimited sampling design. Variation partitioning was used to quantify the relative contributions of the spatial and environmental variables. A null model was selected to test for the non-randomness pattern of species co-occurrence and body size in assemblages of collembolans and to test whether the pattern observed was the result of environmental or biotic processes that structured the community on a small scale. The results showed that large variance was accounted for by spatial variables(18.99% in August and 21.83% in October, both were significant). There were relatively lower effects of environmental variation(3.56% in August and 1.45% in October, neither was significant), while the soil water content, soil p H and soybean height explained a significant portion of the variance that was observed in the spatial pattern of the collembolan community. Furthermore, the null model revealed more co-occurrence than expected by chance, suggesting that collembolan communities had a non-random co-occurrence pattern in both August and October. Additionally, environmental niche overlap and the body size ratio of co-occurrence showed that interspecific competition was not influential in collembolan community structuring. Considering all of the results together, the contributions of spatial and environmental processes were stronger than biotic interactions in the small-scale structuring of a soil collembolan community.展开更多
The campo rupestre sensu lato is a vegetation type that occurs in South American mountains,supports a distinctive flora characterized by high rates of endemism,high herbaceous species richness and often-neglected but ...The campo rupestre sensu lato is a vegetation type that occurs in South American mountains,supports a distinctive flora characterized by high rates of endemism,high herbaceous species richness and often-neglected but also species-rich of the arboreal stratum.We aimed to investigate how environmental factors and elevation are associated with the distribution and diversity of woody species in different rupestrian vegetation types across South America.Using a database of 2,049 woody species from 185 sites across four vegetation types within the campo rupestre,we assessed how the vegetation types were grouped according to their floristic composition and number of shared indicator species,as well as by using different beta diversity indices.The most important variables from a set of 27 variables(e.g.altitude,geo-edaphic and climatic)explaining species distribution were identified using redundancy analysis(RDA)and variation partitioning methods.The distribution of vegetation types was related to both environmental and spatial fractions,with a set of 17 variables retained(e.g.rockiness,grass cover and temperature seasonality as the most important variables).There was an association between the floristic composition of each vegetation type and the elevation range.Although the identified vegetation types are floristically related,they are distinguished by exclusive and habitat-specialist woody species.This uniqueness of vegetation types should be considered in terms of complementarity for the conservation of campos rupestres.展开更多
Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine...Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine community assembly have not been studied in the karst region of southwest China.In this study,a 25-ha(500 m×500 m)monitoring plot within the subtropical climax forest in the karst region was established and canonical correspondence analysis was used to reveal the effects of topography and soil on the spatial patterns of tree community assembly.Our study suggests that spatial processes dominate species composition and the combined effects of spatial and environmental processes play an important role.Overall interpretation rate increases with enlarging the sampling scale.However,the pattern of variation partitioning was similar in different life stages.Environmental variables significantly affected species composition at different sampling sizes and life histories and had a higher interpretation rate of species composition on larger s ampling sizes.Topographic wetness index was the most important variable to explain species composition of the environmental variables.These results suggest that it is necessary to consider the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors on community assembly to better understand,conserve,and manage subtropical karst forests.展开更多
Clarifying eukaryotic microbial spatial distribution patterns and their determinants is an important idea in ecological research.However,information on the distribution patterns of eukaryotic microbial community struc...Clarifying eukaryotic microbial spatial distribution patterns and their determinants is an important idea in ecological research.However,information on the distribution patterns of eukaryotic microbial community structures(EMCSs)within oceans remains unclear.In this study,surface water samples from the southern East China Sea(SECS)were collected to investigate the spatiotemporal variation in EMCSs by using 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology and the impact of this variation on Pseudosciaena crocea during the breeding season.The results indicated that the distribution patterns of the eukaryotic microbial community structure were different among the Sansha Bay,Mindong and Wentai reserves and the offshore East China Sea.In addition,there were notable potential effects of EMCSs on fishery activities.The variation partitioning analysis showed the environmental and spatial factors caused 53.4%of the variation in the EMCSs,indicating that spatially structured environmental factors were the key determinants of the EMCSs spatial heterogeneity in the SECS and may have contributed to the general distribution of P.crocea.In addition,all the environmental factors were the main factors driving the distribution of eukaryotic microbes except for total phosphorus.Furthermore,it was noted some phytoplankton such as Poterioochromonas and Rhizophydium of fungi in Sansha Bay can effectively prevent Cyanobacteria blooms.Chrysophyceae are natural high-quality baits for juvenile fish distributed in Sansha Bay,Mindong and Wentai reserves.This study provides a part of the insight into potential eukaryotic community distributions in large water bodies and how they are affected by environmental factors.展开更多
For successful conservation and restoration of biodiversity,it is important to understand how diversity is regulated.In the ecological research community,a current topic of interest is how much of the variation in pla...For successful conservation and restoration of biodiversity,it is important to understand how diversity is regulated.In the ecological research community,a current topic of interest is how much of the variation in plant species richness and composition is explained by environmental variation(niche-based model),relative to spatial processes(neutral theory).The Yellow River Estuary(YRE) is a newly formed and fragile wetland ecosystem influenced by both the Yellow River and Bohai Bay.Here,we applied variance partitioning techniques to assess the relative effects of spatial and environmental variables on species richness and composition in the YRE.We also conducted a species indicator analysis to identify characteristic species for three subestuaries within the YRE.Partial redundancy analysis showed that the variations in species richness and composition were explained by both environmental and spatial factors.The majority of explained variation in species richness and composition was attributable to local environmental factors.Among the environmental variables,soil salinity made the greatest contribution to species abundance and composition.Soil salinity was the most important factor in the Diaokou subestuary,while soil moisture was the most important factor influencing species richness in the Qingshui and Chahe subestuaries.The combined effects of soil salinity and moisture determined species richness and composition in the wetlands.These results increase our understanding of the organization and assembly of estuarine plant communities.展开更多
The environmental factors that influence tree-grass abundances in tropical savanna and grasslands are not well understood,particularly for woodland-grassland mosaics in humid zones.We studied the effects of abiotic an...The environmental factors that influence tree-grass abundances in tropical savanna and grasslands are not well understood,particularly for woodland-grassland mosaics in humid zones.We studied the effects of abiotic and spatial variables on woody and herbaceous species distributions in a Terai ecosystem of northeastern India.We evaluated the importance of climatic and non-climatic factors that maintain variable tree-grass ratios across the landscape,and also accounted for spatial connectivity and dispersal.We measured species abundances of woody and herbaceous plant species in 134 plots with each 30 m×30 m in a 519 km^(2)protected Terai habitat,and derived several climatic and non-climatic environmental factors.We constructed variables based on different models of spatial connectivity among sites,to test their influence on species abundances.We then used redundancy analyses and variation partitioning to quantify the importance of environmental variables and spatial structure on variation in tree-grass abundances.We found that environmental variables including rainfall,fire,water stress,topography and soil nutrients had statistically significant effects on species abundance and tree-grass ratios.Spatial structure was significant,and the best spatial model was an inverse distance-weighted model with linkage extending to 23.5 km,indicating weak dispersal limitation.About 21%of the variation in species abundance was explained by the selected environmental and spatial factors.The results indicate that dynamic plant communities in which spatial-temporal variation in environmental factors may drive stochasticity in species distribution and abundance,thus dominantly influencing on the vegetation mosaic.展开更多
Large-scale vegetation restoration can reduce local watershed water yield,limit vegetation establishment and subsequent growth,and influence regional ecosystem functions.Clipping management by reducing aboveground par...Large-scale vegetation restoration can reduce local watershed water yield,limit vegetation establishment and subsequent growth,and influence regional ecosystem functions.Clipping management by reducing aboveground parts of grassland was gradually recommended and adopted in Grain-for-Green project management to offset these additional issues.Thus,scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of clipping management on infiltration and runoff processes is necessary for maintaining the stability of the surface water system and the sustainability of vegetation restoration in semi-arid regions.A field simulated rainfall experiment was conducted with four managed clipping grasslands(mainly bunge needlegrass and Stipa grandis),including no clipping,light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping under three slope gradients(10,20,and 30°)and three rainfall intensities(60,90,and 120 mm/h)to explore the mechanism of runoff and infiltration responses to clipping using structural equation modeling and variation partitioning based on an SCS-CN model.The results showed the runoff coefficient of the light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping plots were 1.33,2.22,and 4.22 times that of the no clipping plot.The light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping plots decreased the infiltration coefficients by 0%,5%,and 26%relative to the no clipping plot.Rainfall intensity dominated runoff and infiltration amounts,and clipping intensity's total effect was stronger than slope gradient.Clipping intensity and slope gradient were more influential on runoff with increasing rainfall intensity.The mutual inhibition effect was between clipping intensity and slope gradient on runoff.In order to maintain the sustainability of restoration,a 25-50%vegetation coverage after clipping maximizes the benefits of increasing runoff and maintaining enough soil water supply that prevents possible soil drought.We propose that future vegetation restoration policies should evaluate the appropriate clipping intensity;meanwhile,local physiographic and climate conditions should be considered.These findings may offer guidance for the development of measures for runoff regulation and ecosystem functions of the watershed during vegetation restoration on the northern Loess Plateau.展开更多
This study is based on a park in an industrial city in Ukraine.In 2019,a 2.8 ha area of the park was reconstructed.The park’s reconstruction aimed to create a comfortable environment for visitors and to improve the e...This study is based on a park in an industrial city in Ukraine.In 2019,a 2.8 ha area of the park was reconstructed.The park’s reconstruction aimed to create a comfortable environment for visitors and to improve the efficiency of ecosystem services,and thereby enhance the quality of life of citizens.The reconstruction of the park was found to cause changes in the physical properties of soils and the structure of the soil macrofauna community.The increases of soil compaction in the layers at depth 5-20 cm and the soil electrical conductivity were a consequence of technological operations during reconstruction.The park reconstruction activities can also explain 29% of the variation in the soil macrofauna community.Extracting the variation induced by the park reconstruction from the community variation induced by other causes was a major challenge.The specific changes in the community of soil macrofauna following the reconstruction of the park were revealed.The abundance of soil animal species A.rosea,A.trapezoides,H.affinis,H.rufipes,B.affinis was found to increase after the reconstruction.The earthworm A.trapezoides decreased in abundance due to the park reconstruction.展开更多
基金Funding was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC)grant no.OGP0007738 to P.L.
文摘Aims Beta diversity is the variation in species composition among sites in a geographic region.Beta diversity is a key concept for understanding the functioning of ecosystems,for the conservation of biodiversity and for ecosystem management.The present report describes how to analyse beta diversity from community composition and associated environmental and spatial data tables.Methods Beta diversity can be studied by computing diversity indices for each site and testing hypotheses about the factors that may explain the variation among sites.Alternatively,one can carry out a direct analysis of the community composition data table over the study sites,as a function of sets of environmental and spatial variables.These analyses are carried out by the statistical method of partitioning the variation of the diversity indices or the community composition data table with respect to environmental and spatial variables.Variation partitioning is briefly described herein.Important findings Variation partitioning is a method of choice for the interpretation of beta diversity using tables of environmental and spatial variables.Beta diversity is an interesting‘currency’for ecologists to compare either different sampling areas or different ecological communities cooccurring in an area.Partitioning must be based upon unbiased estimates of the variation of the community composition data table that is explained by the various tables of explanatory variables.The adjusted coefficient of determination provides such an unbiased estimate in both multiple regression and canonical redundancy analysis.After partitioning,one can test the significance of the fractions of interest and plot maps of the fitted values corresponding to these fractions.
基金The analyses reported in this paper were financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.31470490 and 31770478).
文摘Aims The relative roles of ecological processes in structuring beta diver-sity are usually quantified by variation partitioning of beta diversity with respect to environmental and spatial variables or gamma di-versity.However,if important environmental or spatial factors are omitted,or a scale mismatch occurs in the analysis,unaccounted spatial correlation will appear in the residual errors and lead to re-sidual spatial correlation and problematic inferences.Methods Multi-scale ordination(MSO)partitions the canonical ordination results by distance into a set of empirical variograms which charac-terize the spatial structures of explanatory,conditional and residual variance against distance.Then these variance components can be used to diagnose residual spatial correlation by checking assump-tions related to geostatistics or regression analysis.In this paper,we first illustrate the performance of MSO using a simulated data set with known properties,thus making statistical issues explicit.We then test for significant residual spatial correlation in beta diversity analyses of the Gutianshan(GTS)24-ha subtropical forest plot in eastern China.Important Findings Even though we used up to 24 topographic and edaphic variables mapped at high resolution and spatial variables representing spa-tial structures at all scales,we still found significant residual spatial correlation at the 10 m×10 m quadrat scale.This invalidated the analysis and inferences at this scale.We also show that MSO pro-vides a complementary tool to test for significant residual spatial correlation in beta diversity analyses.Our results provided a strong argument supporting the need to test for significant residual spatial correlation before interpreting the results of beta diversity analyses.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32271551,32571954)National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFF0805800)the Metasequoia funding of Nanjing Forestry University.
文摘Comparative analyses in ecology and evolution often face the challenge of controlling for the effects of shared ancestry(phylogeny)from those of ecological or trait-based predictors on species traits.Phylogenetic Generalized Linear Models(PGLMs)address this issue by integrating phylogenetic relationships into statistical models.However,accurately partitioning explained variance among correlated predictors remains challenging.The phylolm.hp R package tackles this problem by extending the concept of“average shared variance”to PGLMs,enabling nuanced quantificationof the relative importance of phylogeny and other predictors.The package calculates individual likelihood-based R^(2) contributions of phylogeny and each predictor,accounting for both unique and shared explained variance.This approach overcomes limitations of traditional partial R^(2) methods,which often fail to sum the total R^(2) due to multicollinearity.We demonstrate the functionality of phylolm.hp through two case studies:one involving continuous trait data(maximum tree height in Californian species)and another focusing on binary trait data(species invasiveness in North American forests).The phylolm.hp package offers researchers a powerful tool to disentangle the contributions of phylogenetic and ecological predictors in comparative analyses.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91025002)
文摘Understanding the factors that drive variation in species distribution is a central theme of ecological research. Although several studies focused on alpine vegetation, few efforts have been made to identify the environmental factors that are responsible for the variations in species composition and richness of alpine shrublands using numerical methods. In the present study, we investigated vegetation and associated environmental variables from 45 sample plots in the middle Qilian Mountains of the northwestern China to classify different community types and to elucidate the species- environment relationships. We also estimated the relative contributions of topography and site conditions to spatial distribution patterns of the shrub communities using the variation partitioning. The results showed that four shrub community types were identified and striking differences in fioristic composition were found among them. Species composition greatly depended on elevation, slope, shrub cover, soil pH and organic carbon. The important determinants of species richness were soil bulk density and slope. No significant differences in species richness were detected among the community types. Topography and site conditions had almost equal effects on compositional variation. Nonetheless,a large amount of the variation in species composition remained unexplained.
基金funded by Studienstiftung des deutschen VolkesGerman Research Foundation for funding(DFG,SCHI 436/14-1,BO 1333/4-1,SCHO 739/14-1)
文摘Climate warming is expected to advance treelines to higher elevations. However, empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines as well as rather insignificant responses. In this context, we aim at investigating the sensitivity and responsiveness of the near-natural treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal, to climate warming. We analysed population densities of tree species along the treeline ecotone from closed forest stands via the krummholz belt to alpine dwarf shrub heaths （3700-4200 m） at 50 plots in 2013 and 2014. We quantified species - environment relationships, i.e. the change of environmental conditions （e.g., nutrient and thermal deficits, plant interactions） across the ecotone by means of redundancy analyses, variation partitioning and distance-based Moran＇s eigenvector maps. In particular, we focus on explaining the high competitiveness of Rhododendron campanulatum forming a dense krummholz belt and on the implications for the responsiveness of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate change. Results indicate that treeline trees in the ecotone show species-specific responses to the influence of environmental parameters, and that juvenile and adult tree responses are modulated by environmental constraints in differing intensity. Moreover, the species - environment relationships suggest that the investigated krummholz belt will largely prevent the upward migration of other tree constrain the future response species and thus of Himalayan krummholz treelines to climate warming.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41101049,41471037,41371072,41430857)University Nursing Program for Young Scholars with Creative Talents in Heilongjiang Province(No.UNPYSCT-2015054)+1 种基金Distinguished Young Scholar of Harbin Normal University(No.KGB201204)Excellent Youth Scholars of Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.DLSYQ13003)
文摘Understanding the underlying processes of how communities are structured remains a central question in community ecology. However, the mechanisms of the soil animal community are still unclear, especially for communities on a small scale. To evaluate the relative roles of biotic interactions and environmental and spatial processes in a soil collembolan community, a field experiment was carried out on a small scale(50 m) in the farmland ecosystem of the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. In August and October, 2011, we took 100 samples each month in a 50 m × 50 m plot using a spatially delimited sampling design. Variation partitioning was used to quantify the relative contributions of the spatial and environmental variables. A null model was selected to test for the non-randomness pattern of species co-occurrence and body size in assemblages of collembolans and to test whether the pattern observed was the result of environmental or biotic processes that structured the community on a small scale. The results showed that large variance was accounted for by spatial variables(18.99% in August and 21.83% in October, both were significant). There were relatively lower effects of environmental variation(3.56% in August and 1.45% in October, neither was significant), while the soil water content, soil p H and soybean height explained a significant portion of the variance that was observed in the spatial pattern of the collembolan community. Furthermore, the null model revealed more co-occurrence than expected by chance, suggesting that collembolan communities had a non-random co-occurrence pattern in both August and October. Additionally, environmental niche overlap and the body size ratio of co-occurrence showed that interspecific competition was not influential in collembolan community structuring. Considering all of the results together, the contributions of spatial and environmental processes were stronger than biotic interactions in the small-scale structuring of a soil collembolan community.
文摘The campo rupestre sensu lato is a vegetation type that occurs in South American mountains,supports a distinctive flora characterized by high rates of endemism,high herbaceous species richness and often-neglected but also species-rich of the arboreal stratum.We aimed to investigate how environmental factors and elevation are associated with the distribution and diversity of woody species in different rupestrian vegetation types across South America.Using a database of 2,049 woody species from 185 sites across four vegetation types within the campo rupestre,we assessed how the vegetation types were grouped according to their floristic composition and number of shared indicator species,as well as by using different beta diversity indices.The most important variables from a set of 27 variables(e.g.altitude,geo-edaphic and climatic)explaining species distribution were identified using redundancy analysis(RDA)and variation partitioning methods.The distribution of vegetation types was related to both environmental and spatial fractions,with a set of 17 variables retained(e.g.rockiness,grass cover and temperature seasonality as the most important variables).There was an association between the floristic composition of each vegetation type and the elevation range.Although the identified vegetation types are floristically related,they are distinguished by exclusive and habitat-specialist woody species.This uniqueness of vegetation types should be considered in terms of complementarity for the conservation of campos rupestres.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071073,31971487)Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2021366)+2 种基金Guangxi Key Research and Development Program (AB17129009)the Hechi Distinguished Expert Program to Fuping Zengthe Guangxi Bagui Scholarship Program to Dejun Li。
文摘Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine community assembly have not been studied in the karst region of southwest China.In this study,a 25-ha(500 m×500 m)monitoring plot within the subtropical climax forest in the karst region was established and canonical correspondence analysis was used to reveal the effects of topography and soil on the spatial patterns of tree community assembly.Our study suggests that spatial processes dominate species composition and the combined effects of spatial and environmental processes play an important role.Overall interpretation rate increases with enlarging the sampling scale.However,the pattern of variation partitioning was similar in different life stages.Environmental variables significantly affected species composition at different sampling sizes and life histories and had a higher interpretation rate of species composition on larger s ampling sizes.Topographic wetness index was the most important variable to explain species composition of the environmental variables.These results suggest that it is necessary to consider the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors on community assembly to better understand,conserve,and manage subtropical karst forests.
基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2018 YFC1406300)the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province(No.LQ20C190003)+2 种基金the Department of Education Scientifific Research Project of Zhejiang Province(No.Y201839309)the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo(Nos.2019A610421 and 2019A610443)the K.C.Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University。
文摘Clarifying eukaryotic microbial spatial distribution patterns and their determinants is an important idea in ecological research.However,information on the distribution patterns of eukaryotic microbial community structures(EMCSs)within oceans remains unclear.In this study,surface water samples from the southern East China Sea(SECS)were collected to investigate the spatiotemporal variation in EMCSs by using 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology and the impact of this variation on Pseudosciaena crocea during the breeding season.The results indicated that the distribution patterns of the eukaryotic microbial community structure were different among the Sansha Bay,Mindong and Wentai reserves and the offshore East China Sea.In addition,there were notable potential effects of EMCSs on fishery activities.The variation partitioning analysis showed the environmental and spatial factors caused 53.4%of the variation in the EMCSs,indicating that spatially structured environmental factors were the key determinants of the EMCSs spatial heterogeneity in the SECS and may have contributed to the general distribution of P.crocea.In addition,all the environmental factors were the main factors driving the distribution of eukaryotic microbes except for total phosphorus.Furthermore,it was noted some phytoplankton such as Poterioochromonas and Rhizophydium of fungi in Sansha Bay can effectively prevent Cyanobacteria blooms.Chrysophyceae are natural high-quality baits for juvenile fish distributed in Sansha Bay,Mindong and Wentai reserves.This study provides a part of the insight into potential eukaryotic community distributions in large water bodies and how they are affected by environmental factors.
基金supported by National Science & Technology Pillar in the 11th Five-Year Program(Grant No.2006BAC01A13)
文摘For successful conservation and restoration of biodiversity,it is important to understand how diversity is regulated.In the ecological research community,a current topic of interest is how much of the variation in plant species richness and composition is explained by environmental variation(niche-based model),relative to spatial processes(neutral theory).The Yellow River Estuary(YRE) is a newly formed and fragile wetland ecosystem influenced by both the Yellow River and Bohai Bay.Here,we applied variance partitioning techniques to assess the relative effects of spatial and environmental variables on species richness and composition in the YRE.We also conducted a species indicator analysis to identify characteristic species for three subestuaries within the YRE.Partial redundancy analysis showed that the variations in species richness and composition were explained by both environmental and spatial factors.The majority of explained variation in species richness and composition was attributable to local environmental factors.Among the environmental variables,soil salinity made the greatest contribution to species abundance and composition.Soil salinity was the most important factor in the Diaokou subestuary,while soil moisture was the most important factor influencing species richness in the Qingshui and Chahe subestuaries.The combined effects of soil salinity and moisture determined species richness and composition in the wetlands.These results increase our understanding of the organization and assembly of estuarine plant communities.
基金We thank the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Program and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Tiger Conservation Grant Program(F12AP00312)for financial support to carry out this work.
文摘The environmental factors that influence tree-grass abundances in tropical savanna and grasslands are not well understood,particularly for woodland-grassland mosaics in humid zones.We studied the effects of abiotic and spatial variables on woody and herbaceous species distributions in a Terai ecosystem of northeastern India.We evaluated the importance of climatic and non-climatic factors that maintain variable tree-grass ratios across the landscape,and also accounted for spatial connectivity and dispersal.We measured species abundances of woody and herbaceous plant species in 134 plots with each 30 m×30 m in a 519 km^(2)protected Terai habitat,and derived several climatic and non-climatic environmental factors.We constructed variables based on different models of spatial connectivity among sites,to test their influence on species abundances.We then used redundancy analyses and variation partitioning to quantify the importance of environmental variables and spatial structure on variation in tree-grass abundances.We found that environmental variables including rainfall,fire,water stress,topography and soil nutrients had statistically significant effects on species abundance and tree-grass ratios.Spatial structure was significant,and the best spatial model was an inverse distance-weighted model with linkage extending to 23.5 km,indicating weak dispersal limitation.About 21%of the variation in species abundance was explained by the selected environmental and spatial factors.The results indicate that dynamic plant communities in which spatial-temporal variation in environmental factors may drive stochasticity in species distribution and abundance,thus dominantly influencing on the vegetation mosaic.
基金This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.42077071,U22A20613 and 41877080)the Loess Plateau Ecological Restoration Innovation Team,Shaanxi Academy of Forestry(SXLK2020-03-02).
文摘Large-scale vegetation restoration can reduce local watershed water yield,limit vegetation establishment and subsequent growth,and influence regional ecosystem functions.Clipping management by reducing aboveground parts of grassland was gradually recommended and adopted in Grain-for-Green project management to offset these additional issues.Thus,scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of clipping management on infiltration and runoff processes is necessary for maintaining the stability of the surface water system and the sustainability of vegetation restoration in semi-arid regions.A field simulated rainfall experiment was conducted with four managed clipping grasslands(mainly bunge needlegrass and Stipa grandis),including no clipping,light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping under three slope gradients(10,20,and 30°)and three rainfall intensities(60,90,and 120 mm/h)to explore the mechanism of runoff and infiltration responses to clipping using structural equation modeling and variation partitioning based on an SCS-CN model.The results showed the runoff coefficient of the light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping plots were 1.33,2.22,and 4.22 times that of the no clipping plot.The light clipping,heavy clipping,and complete clipping plots decreased the infiltration coefficients by 0%,5%,and 26%relative to the no clipping plot.Rainfall intensity dominated runoff and infiltration amounts,and clipping intensity's total effect was stronger than slope gradient.Clipping intensity and slope gradient were more influential on runoff with increasing rainfall intensity.The mutual inhibition effect was between clipping intensity and slope gradient on runoff.In order to maintain the sustainability of restoration,a 25-50%vegetation coverage after clipping maximizes the benefits of increasing runoff and maintaining enough soil water supply that prevents possible soil drought.We propose that future vegetation restoration policies should evaluate the appropriate clipping intensity;meanwhile,local physiographic and climate conditions should be considered.These findings may offer guidance for the development of measures for runoff regulation and ecosystem functions of the watershed during vegetation restoration on the northern Loess Plateau.
文摘This study is based on a park in an industrial city in Ukraine.In 2019,a 2.8 ha area of the park was reconstructed.The park’s reconstruction aimed to create a comfortable environment for visitors and to improve the efficiency of ecosystem services,and thereby enhance the quality of life of citizens.The reconstruction of the park was found to cause changes in the physical properties of soils and the structure of the soil macrofauna community.The increases of soil compaction in the layers at depth 5-20 cm and the soil electrical conductivity were a consequence of technological operations during reconstruction.The park reconstruction activities can also explain 29% of the variation in the soil macrofauna community.Extracting the variation induced by the park reconstruction from the community variation induced by other causes was a major challenge.The specific changes in the community of soil macrofauna following the reconstruction of the park were revealed.The abundance of soil animal species A.rosea,A.trapezoides,H.affinis,H.rufipes,B.affinis was found to increase after the reconstruction.The earthworm A.trapezoides decreased in abundance due to the park reconstruction.
