This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the pu...This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the published sources for elevation records of 2,331 medicinal plant species to interpolate presence between minimum and maximum elevations and estimated medicinal plant richness for each 100-m elevational band. Monte Carlo simulations were used to test whether differences in elevational distribution between different groups of medicinal plants were significant. Total number of medicinal plants as well as different groups showed unimodal relationship with elevation. The elevational distributions of medicinal plants significantly differ between regions and between medicinal plant groups.When comparing the richness of all medicinal plants to all vascular plants,Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the numbers of medicinal plants are higher than expected at low elevations.The highest richness of medicinal plants at low elevation could be possibly due to favorable environmental factors such as high temperature, rainfall,sunlight or due to higher density of human population and thus higher pressure on use of any plants in lower elevations.展开更多
The association between biodiversity and belowground biomass(BGB) remains a central debate in ecology.In this study, we compared the variations in species richness(SR) and BGB as well as their interaction in the top(0...The association between biodiversity and belowground biomass(BGB) remains a central debate in ecology.In this study, we compared the variations in species richness(SR) and BGB as well as their interaction in the top(0–20 cm), middle(20–50 cm) and deep(50–100 cm) soil depths among 8 grassland types(lowland meadow, temperate desert, temperate desert steppe, temperate steppe desert, temperate steppe, temperate meadow steppe, mountain meadow and alpine steppe) and along environmental gradients(elevation, energy condition(annual mean temperature(AMT) and potential evapotranspiration(PET)), and mean annual precipitation(MAP)) based on a 2011–2013 survey of 379 sites in Xinjiang, Northwest China.The SR and BGB varied among the grassland types.The alpine steppe had a medium level of SR but the highest BGB in the top soil depth, whereas the lowland meadow had the lowest SR but the highest BGB in the middle and deep soil depths.The SR and BGB in the different soil depths were tightly associated with elevation, MAP and energy condition;however, the particular forms of trends in SR and BGB depended on environmental factors and soil depths.The relationship between SR and BGB was unimodal in the top soil depth, but SR was positively related with BGB in the middle soil depth.Although elevation, MAP, energy condition and SR had significant effects on BGB, the variations in BGB in the top soil depth were mostly determined by elevation, and those in the middle and deep soil depths were mainly affected by energy condition.These findings highlight the importance of environmental factors in the regulations of SR and BGB as well as their interaction in the grasslands in Xinjiang.展开更多
基金supported by GACR 526/09/0549and partly by AV0Z60050516
文摘This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions,and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants.We used the published sources for elevation records of 2,331 medicinal plant species to interpolate presence between minimum and maximum elevations and estimated medicinal plant richness for each 100-m elevational band. Monte Carlo simulations were used to test whether differences in elevational distribution between different groups of medicinal plants were significant. Total number of medicinal plants as well as different groups showed unimodal relationship with elevation. The elevational distributions of medicinal plants significantly differ between regions and between medicinal plant groups.When comparing the richness of all medicinal plants to all vascular plants,Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the numbers of medicinal plants are higher than expected at low elevations.The highest richness of medicinal plants at low elevation could be possibly due to favorable environmental factors such as high temperature, rainfall,sunlight or due to higher density of human population and thus higher pressure on use of any plants in lower elevations.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1603235, 31660127)the Tianshan Innovation Team Plan of Xinjiang (2017D14009)
文摘The association between biodiversity and belowground biomass(BGB) remains a central debate in ecology.In this study, we compared the variations in species richness(SR) and BGB as well as their interaction in the top(0–20 cm), middle(20–50 cm) and deep(50–100 cm) soil depths among 8 grassland types(lowland meadow, temperate desert, temperate desert steppe, temperate steppe desert, temperate steppe, temperate meadow steppe, mountain meadow and alpine steppe) and along environmental gradients(elevation, energy condition(annual mean temperature(AMT) and potential evapotranspiration(PET)), and mean annual precipitation(MAP)) based on a 2011–2013 survey of 379 sites in Xinjiang, Northwest China.The SR and BGB varied among the grassland types.The alpine steppe had a medium level of SR but the highest BGB in the top soil depth, whereas the lowland meadow had the lowest SR but the highest BGB in the middle and deep soil depths.The SR and BGB in the different soil depths were tightly associated with elevation, MAP and energy condition;however, the particular forms of trends in SR and BGB depended on environmental factors and soil depths.The relationship between SR and BGB was unimodal in the top soil depth, but SR was positively related with BGB in the middle soil depth.Although elevation, MAP, energy condition and SR had significant effects on BGB, the variations in BGB in the top soil depth were mostly determined by elevation, and those in the middle and deep soil depths were mainly affected by energy condition.These findings highlight the importance of environmental factors in the regulations of SR and BGB as well as their interaction in the grasslands in Xinjiang.
