Climate and history explain the species richness peak at mid-elevation for Schizothorax fishes (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) distributed in the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent regions

Aim  We studied elevational species richness patterns of Schizothorax fishes and identified the roles of ecological and evolutionary factors in shaping the patterns of elevational diversity.
Location  The Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent regions.
Methods  We assembled distribution and altitude data for all Schizothorax species using the literature. We merged ecological and evolutionary approaches to test the relationships between species richness and ecological factors (climate, area, the mid-domain effect) or evolutionary factors (diversification rates and time of colonization).
Results  We found that species richness of Schizothorax fishes peaked at mid-elevations. Rainfall, area, the mid-domain effect and diversification rate were weak predictors of the richness pattern. Temperature showed a nonlinear relationship with species richness. Temperature and time of colonization were the most important variables in explaining the elevational diversity pattern.
Main conclusion  Our findings indicate that the time-for-speciation effect and niche conservatism play important roles in variation of species richness.     

Elevational plant species richness patterns and their drivers across non-endemics,endemics and growth forms in the Eastern Himalaya

Despite decades of research, ecologists continue to debate how spatial patterns of species richness arise across elevational gradients on the Earth. The equivocal results of these studies could emanate from variations in study design, sampling effort and data analysis. In this study, we demonstrate that the richness patterns of 2,781 (2,197 non-endemic and 584 endemic) angiosperm species along an elevational gradient of 300–5,300 m in the Eastern Himalaya are hump-shaped, spatial scale of extent (the proportion of elevational gradient studied) dependent and growth form specific. Endemics peaked at higher elevations than non-endemics across all growth forms (trees, shrubs, climbers, and herbs). Richness patterns were influenced by the proportional representation of the largest physiognomic group (herbs). We show that with increasing spatial scale of extent, the richness patterns change from a monotonic to a hump-shaped pattern and richness maxima shift toward higher elevations across all growth forms. Our investigations revealed that the combination of ambient energy (air temperature, solar radiation, and potential evapo-transpiration) and water availability (soil water content and precipitation) were the main drivers of elevational plant species richness patterns in the Himalaya. This study highlights the importance of factoring in endemism, growth forms, and spatial scale when investigating elevational gradients of plant species distributions and advances our understanding of how macroecological patterns arise.     

物种丰富度垂直分布格局及影响机制

物种丰富度分布格局是一定地域内物种丰富度沿三维空间的立体分布,包括物种丰富度在经度、纬度和垂直梯度(海拔高度和海水深度)三个维度上的空间分异。近年来物种多样性的垂直分布格局与机制研究得到了生物地理学家和生态学家的重视。物种丰富度的垂直分布格局存在多种类型,但随海拔增加而物种数减少的单调递减模型和中海拔物种丰富度最高的单峰模型较为常见。目前在机制研究中验证较多的是气候稳定性、生物因子(种间相互作用)、能量、生境异质性、干扰、进化时间、物种分化速率、面积、中域效应(mid-domain effect)、生态位保守性(niche conservatism)等假说和机制。物种丰富度的分布格局是多方面因素综合作用的结果;由于地理、地形、气候、地质演化历史、物种库和进化历史、物种分化速率、干扰等差异,在不同地区存在着特别的物种丰富度空间分布格局和机制;处于同一地区的不同类群的物种也因进化扩散历史和生态适应能力不同而呈现多样化的分布格局。因此,对不同地区和类群的物种丰富度格局和机制进行研究应具体分析后才能得到可信结论。     

Changes in plant taxonomic and functional diversity patterns following treeline advances in the South Urals

Background: Treeline ecotones represent environmental boundaries that fluctuate in space and time and thus induce changes in plant taxonomic and functional diversity.

Aims: To study changes through time in taxonomic and functional plant diversity patterns along the treeline ecotone.

Methods: In 2002, vegetation was sampled along a gradient from upper montane forest to the treeline–alpine transition in the South Ural Mountains, Russia. In 2014, vegetation was resampled and plant functional traits were collected. We studied spatial and temporal changes in plant species composition, functional composition and functional diversity.

Results: Species composition and diversity changed along the elevational gradient. The functional composition in height, leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content decreased with elevation, whereas functional composition of leaf carbon content increased. We found a temporal shift towards shorter plants with smaller leaves in treeline sites. Functional richness varied in several traits along the elevational gradient, while functional dispersion showed a trend towards increased functional dispersion in height, specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen in the treeline–tundra transition.

Conclusions: Tree encroachment across the treeline ecotone has resulted in a shift in plant species relative abundances and functional diversity, possibly affecting plant community assembly patterns.     

Phylogenetic structure and phylogenetic diversity of angiosperm assemblages in forests along an elevational gradient in Changbaishan,China

Aims Understanding what drives the variation in species composition and diversity among local communities can provide insights into the mechanisms of community assembly. Because ecological traits are often thought to be phylogenetically conserved, there should be patterns in phylogenetic structure and phylogenetic diversity in local communities along ecological gradients. We investigate potential patterns in angiosperm assemblages along an elevational gradient with a steep ecological gradient in Changbaishan, China.Methods We used 13 angiosperm assemblages in forest plots (32×32 m) distributed along an elevational gradient from 720 to 1900 m above sea level. We used Faith's phylogenetic diversity metric to quantify the phylogenetic alpha diversity of each forest plot, used the net relatedness index to quantify the degree of phylogenetic relatedness among angiosperm species within each forest plot and used a phylogenetic dissimilarity index to quantify phylogenetic beta diversity among forest plots. We related the measures of phylogenetic structure and phylogenetic diversity to environmental (climatic and edaphic) factors.Important findings Our study showed that angiosperm assemblages tended to be more phylogenetically clustered at higher elevations in Changbaishan. This finding is consistent with the prediction of the phylogenetic niche conservatism hypothesis, which highlights the role of niche constraints in governing the phylogenetic structure of assemblages. Our study also showed that woody assemblages differ from herbaceous assemblages in several major aspects. First, phylogenetic clustering dominated in woody assemblages, whereas phylogenetic overdispersion dominated in herbaceous assemblages; second, patterns in phylogenetic relatedness along the elevational and temperature gradients of Changbaishan were stronger for woody assemblages than for herbaceous assemblages; third, environmental variables explained much more variations in phylogenetic relatedness, phylogenetic alpha diversity and phylogenetic beta diversity for woody assemblages than for herbaceous assemblages.     

Elevational patterns of frog species richness and endemic richness in the Hengduan Mountains, China: geometric constraints, area and climate effects

We studied frog biodiversity along an elevational gradient in the Hengduan Mountains, China. Endemic and non-endemic elevational diversity patterns were examined individually. Competing hypotheses were also tested for these patterns. Species richness of total frogs, endemics and non-endemics peaked at mid-elevations. The peak in endemic species richness was at higher elevations than the maxima of total species richness. Endemic species richness followed the mid-domain model predictions, and showed a nonlinear relationship with temperature. Water and energy were the most important variables in explaining elevational patterns of non-endemic species richness. A suite of interacting climatic and geometric factors best explained total species richness patterns along the elevational gradient. We suggest that the mid-domain effect was an important factor to explain elevational richness patterns, especially in regions with high endemism.     

Global ecological niche conservatism and evolution in Olea species

Background and AimsClimate is an important parameter in delimiting coarse-grained aspects of fundamental ecological niches of species; evolution of these niches has been considered a key component in biological diversification. We assessed phylogenetic niche conservatism and evolution in 24 species of the family Oleaceae in relation to temperature and precipitation variables. We studied niches of 17 Olea species and 7 species from other genera of Oleaceae globally.MethodsWe used nuclear ribosomal and plastid DNA to reconstruct an evolutionary tree for the family. We used an approach designed specifically to incorporate uncertainty and incomplete knowledge of species’ ecological niche limits. We performed parsimony- and likelihood-based reconstructions of ancestral states on two independent phylogenetic hypotheses for the family. After detailed analysis, species’ niches were classified into warm and cold niches, wet and dry niches, and broad and narrow niches.Key ResultsGiven that full estimates of fundamental niches are difficult, we explore the alternative approach of explicit incorporation of knowledge of gaps in the information available, which allows avoidance of overestimation of amounts of evolutionary change. The result is a first synthetic view of evolutionary dynamics of ecological niches and distributional potential in a widespread plant family. Temperate regions of the Earth were occupied only by lineages that could derive with cold and dry niches; Southeast Asia held species with warm and wet niches; and parts of Africa held only species with dry niches.ConclusionsHigh temperature in Lutetian (Oligocene) and low temperature in Rupelian (Eocene) with major desertification events play important role for niche retraction and expansion in the history for Oleaceae clades. Associations between environmental niche characteristics and phylogeny reconstruction play an important role in understanding ecological niche conservatism, the overall picture was relatively slow or conservative niche evolution in this group.     

Climatic Niche Dynamics and Its Role in the Insular Endemism of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anolis</Emphasis> Lizards

Insular systems are usually characterized by have a high species diversity, endemism, and evolutionary uniqueness. Although ecological and evolutionary factors shaping insular diversity and endemism are relatively well established, there is a little understanding about climatic niche dynamics for many insular adaptive radiations. Here, we evaluate the tempo and mode of climatic niche evolution in an iconic insular radiation of lizards. By using an extensive dataset of phylogenetic and coarse-grain climatic niches, we evaluated phylogenetic niche divergence and niche conservatism across temporal and spatial scales in the Caribbean Anolis lizard radiation. We found several instances of niche shifts during the anole radiation across islands. Many of these niche shifts converged to similar climatic regimes between different islands. Furthermore, we find evidence that single-island endemic species are more limited by low suitability of climatic conditions outside its native islands than oceanic barriers due to the high climatic heterogeneity observed at least between Greater Antillean islands. These results suggest that within-lineage climatic niche conservatism has been prevalent in short time scales and likely played a role driving the exceptional insular endemism observed today.     

Phylogenetic diversity of macromycetes and woody plants along an elevational gradient in Eastern Mexico

Phylogenetic information provides insight into the ecological and evolutionary processes that organize species assemblages. We compared patterns of phylogenetic diversity among macromycete and woody plant communities along a steep elevational gradient in eastern Mexico to better understand the evolutionary processes that structure their communities. Macrofungi and trees were counted and identified in eight sites from 100 to 3500 m asl, and sequence data retrieved from GenBank for the same or closely related species were used to reconstruct their phylogenies. Patterns of species richness and phylogenetic diversity were similar for both macrofungi and trees, but macromycete richness and diversity peaked at mid‐elevations, whereas woody plant richness and diversity did not show significant trends with elevation. Phylogenetic similarity among sites was low for both groups and decreased as elevational distance between sites increased. Macromycete communities displayed phylogenetic overdispersion at low elevations and phylogenetic clustering at high elevations; the latter is consistent with environmental filtering at high elevation sites. Woody plants generally exhibited phylogenetic clustering, consistent with the potential importance of environmental filtering throughout the elevational gradient.     

Phylogenetic conservatism and biogeographic affinity influence woody plant species richness–climate relationships in eastern Eurasia

Mechanisms underlying species richness patterns remain a central yet controversial issue in biology. Climate has been regarded as a major determinant of species richness. However, the relative influences of different evolutionary processes, (i.e. niche conservatism, diversification rate and time for speciation) on species richness–climate relationships remain to be tested. Here, using newly compiled distribution maps for 11 422 woody plant species in eastern Eurasia, we estimated species richness patterns for all species and for families with tropical and temperate affinities separately, and explored the phylogenetic signals in species richness patterns of different families and their relationships with contemporary climate and climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We further compared the effects of niche conservatism (represented by contemporary-ancestral climatic niches differences), diversification rate and time for speciation (represented by family age) on variation in the slopes of species richness–climate relationships. We found that winter coldness was the best predictor for species richness patterns of most tropical families while Quaternary climate change was the best predictor for those of most temperate families. Species richness patterns of closely-related families were more similar than those of distantly-related families within eudicots, and significant phylogenetic signals characterized the slopes of species richness–climate relationships across all angiosperm families. Contemporary-ancestral climatic niche differences dominated variation in the relationships between family-level species richness and most climate variables. Our results indicate significant phylogenetic conservatism in family-level species richness patterns and their relationships with contemporary climate within eudicots. These findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying large-scale species richness patterns and suggest that ancestral climatic niche may influence the evolution of species richness–climate relationships in plants through niche conservatism.     

Patterns of an elevational gradient affecting moths across the South Korean mountains: effects of geometric constraints,plants, and climate

We investigated elevational richness patterns of three moth groups (Erebidae, Geometridae, and Noctuidae) along four elevational gradients located on one northern and three southern mountains in South Korea, as well as the effects of plants and climatic factors on the diversity patterns of moths. Moths were collected with an ultraviolet light trap at 32 sites from May through October, 2013. Plant species richness and mean temperatures for January and June were acquired. Observed and estimated moth species richness was calculated and the diversity patterns with null models were compared. Species richness along four elevational gradients peaked at mid-elevations, whereas deviations occurred at elevations below mid-peak in the southern mountains and elevations higher than mid-peak on the northern mountain. Species richness curves of three moth groups also peaked at mid-elevations throughout South Korea. However, the species richness curves for Erebidae were positively skewed, indicating that a preference for lowlands, whereas curves of the Geometridae were negatively skewed, indicating a preference for highlands. The mid-peak diversity pattern between plants and moths on the Korean mountains showed an elevational breadth that overlapped between 800 and 900 m. Multiple regression analysis revealed that plant species richness and January mean temperature significantly influenced moth species richness and abundance. The rapid increase in mean annual temperature in the Korean peninsula and the unimodal elevational gradients of moths across the country suggest that an uphill shift in peak optimum elevation and changes in the highest peak of the curve will occur in the future.     

Elevational gradients in bird diversity in the Eastern Himalaya: an evaluation of distribution patterns and their underlying mechanisms

Background

Understanding diversity patterns and the mechanisms underlying those patterns along elevational gradients is critically important for conservation efforts in montane ecosystems, especially those that are biodiversity hotspots. Despite recent advances, consensus on the underlying causes, or even the relative influence of a suite of factors on elevational diversity patterns has remained elusive.

Methods and Principal Findings

We examined patterns of species richness, density and range size distribution of birds, and the suite of biotic and abiotic factors (primary productivity, habitat variables, climatic factors and geometric constraints) that governs diversity along a 4500-m elevational gradient in the Eastern Himalayan region, a biodiversity hotspot within the world''s tallest mountains. We used point count methods for sampling birds and quadrats for estimating vegetation at 22 sites along the elevational gradient. We found that species richness increased to approximately 2000 m, then declined. We found no evidence that geometric constraints influenced this pattern, whereas actual evapotranspiration (a surrogate for primary productivity) and various habitat variables (plant species richness, shrub density and basal area of trees) accounted for most of the variation in bird species richness. We also observed that ranges of most bird species were narrow along the elevation gradient. We find little evidence to support Rapoport''s rule for the birds of Sikkim region of the Himalaya.

Conclusions and Significance

This study in the Eastern Himalaya indicates that species richness of birds is highest at intermediate elevations along one of the most extensive elevational gradients ever examined. Additionally, primary productivity and factors associated with habitat accounted for most of the variation in avian species richness. The diversity peak at intermediate elevations and the narrow elevational ranges of most species suggest important conservation implications: not only should mid-elevation areas be conserved, but the entire gradient requires equal conservation attention.     

Disentangling the historical routes to community assembly in the global epicentre of biodiversity

Aim

The exceptional turnover in biota with elevation and number of species coexisting at any elevation makes tropical mountains hotspots of biodiversity. However, understanding the historical processes through which species arising in geographical isolation (i.e. allopatry) assemble along the same mountain slope (i.e. sympatry) remains a major challenge. Multiple models have been proposed including (1) the sorting of already elevationally divergent species, (2) the displacement of elevation upon secondary contact, potentially followed by convergence, or (3) elevational conservatism, in which ancestral elevational ranges are retained. However, the relative contribution of these processes to generating patterns of elevational overlap and turnover is unknown.

Location

Tropical mountains of Central- and South-America.

Time Period

The last 12 myr.

Major Taxa Studied

Birds.

Methods

We collate a dataset of 165 avian sister pairs containing estimates of phylogenetic age, geographical and regional elevational range overlap. We develop a framework based on continuous-time Markov models to infer the relative frequency of different historical pathways in explaining present-day overlap and turnover of sympatric species along elevational gradients.

Results

We show that turnover of closely related bird species across elevation can predominantly be explained by displacement of elevation ranges upon contact (81%) rather than elevational divergence in allopatry (19%). In contrast, overlap along elevation gradients is primarily (88%) explained by conservatism of elevational ranges rather than displacement followed by elevational expansion (12%).

Main Conclusions

Bird communities across elevation gradients are assembled through a mix of processes, including the sorting, displacement and conservatism of species elevation ranges. The dominant role of conservatism in explaining co-occurrence of species on mountain slopes rejects more complex scenarios requiring displacement followed by expansion. The ability of closely related species to coexist without elevational divergence provides a direct and faster pathway to sympatry and helps explain the exceptional species richness of tropical mountains.     

Elevational diversity patterns as an example for evolutionary and ecological dynamics in ferns and lycophytes

Evolutionary processes such as adaptation, ecological filtering, and niche conservatism involve the interaction of organisms with their environment and are thus commonly studied along environmental gradients. Elevational gradients have become among the most studied environmental gradients to understand large-scale patterns of species richness and composition because they are highly replicated with different combinations of geographical, environmental and historical factors. We here review the literature on using elevational gradients to understand evolutionary processes in ferns. Some phylogenetic studies of individual fern clades have considered elevation in the analysis or interpretation and postulated that fern diversification is linked to the colonization of mountain habitats. Other studies that have linked elevational community composition and hence ecological filtering with phylogenetic community composition and morphological traits, usually only found limited phylogenetic signal. However, these studies are ultimately only correlational, and there are few actual tests of the evolutionary mechanisms leading to these patterns. We identify a number of challenges for improving our understanding of how evolutionary and ecological processes are linked to elevational richness patterns in ferns: i) limited information on traits and their ecological relevance, ii) uncertainties on the dispersal kernels of ferns and hence the delimitation of regional species pools from which local assemblages are recruited, iii) limited genomic data to identify candidate genes under selection and hence actually document adaptation and selection, and iv) conceptual challenges in developing clear and testable hypotheses to how specific evolutionary processes can be linked to patterns in community composition and species richness.     

Climatic niche conservatism and the evolutionary dynamics in species range boundaries: global congruence across mammals and amphibians

Aim Comparative evidence for phylogenetic niche conservatism – the tendency for lineages to retain their ancestral niches over long time scales – has so far been mixed, depending on spatial and taxonomic scale. We quantify and compare conservatism in the climatic factors defining range boundaries in extant continental mammals and amphibians in order to identify those factors that are most evolutionarily conserved, and thus hypothesized to have played a major role in determining the geographic distributions of many species. We also test whether amphibians show stronger signals of climatic niche conservatism, as expected from their greater physiological sensitivity and lower dispersal abilities. Location Global; continental land masses excluding Antarctica. Methods We used nearly complete global distributional databases to estimate the climatic niche conservatism in extant continental mammals and amphibians. We characterized the climatic niche of each species by using a suite of variables and separately investigate conservatism in each variable using both taxonomic and phylogenetic approaches. Finally, we explored the spatial, taxonomic and phylogenetic patterns in recent climatic niche evolution. Results Amphibians and mammals showed congruent patterns of conservatism in cold tolerance, with assemblages of escapee species (i.e. those escaping most from the climatic constraints of their ancestors) aggregated in the North Temperate Zone. Main conclusions The relative strength of climatic niche conservatism varies across the variables tested, but is strongest for cold tolerance in both mammals and amphibians. Despite the apparent conservatism in this variable, there is also a strong signal of recent evolutionary shifts in cold tolerance in assemblages inhabiting the North Temperate Zone. Our results thus indicate that distribution patterns of both taxa are influenced by both niche conservatism and niche evolution.     

Phylogenetic properties of Tertiary relict flora in the east Asian continental islands: imprint of climatic niche conservatism and in situ diversification

Understanding biodiversity patterns on islands has long been a central aim in ecology and conservation biology. Island‐specific biogeographical processes play substantial roles in the formation of endemic biota. Here, we examined how climate niche conservatism and geohistorical factors are interactively associated with in situ diversification of Tertiary relict flora in the east Asian continental islands. We generated two novel datasets for species distribution and phylogeny that included all of the known vascular plant species in Japan (5575). Then we tested phylogenetic signal of climatic tolerance, in terms of absolute minimum temperature and water balance, and explored environmental predictors of phylogenetic structure (evolutionary derivedness and clustering) of species assemblages. Although phylogenetic signal of climatic tolerance was significant across the phylogeny of most species, the strength of climatic niche conservatism differed among ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperm trees, and angiosperm herbs. For angiosperm trees, cold temperatures acted as environmental filters that generated phylogenetic derivedness/clustering of species assemblages. For fern and angiosperm herb species, however, phylogenetic properties were not associated with climatic harshness. These contrasting patterns among groups reflected climate niche evolution in vascular plants with different growth forms and traits; for example, diversification of angiosperm trees (but not fern and herb) occurred in response to historical climatic cooling. More importantly, geographical constraints contributed to evolutionary radiation that resulted from isolation by distance from the continent or by elevation. Quaternary climate change was also associated with clade‐specific radiation in refugial habitats. The degree to which geographical, geological, and palaeoclimatic variables explain the phylogenetic structure underscores the importance of isolation‐ and habitat‐stability‐related geohistorical processes in driving in situ diversification despite climatic niche conservatism. We propose that the highly endemic flora of the east Asian islands resulted from the interplay of idiosyncratic regional factors, and ecological and evolutionary processes, such as climate niche assembly and adaptive/nonadaptive radiation.     

An analysis of altitudinal behavior of tree species in Subansiri district,Eastern Himalaya

Plant species diversity and endemism demonstrate a definite trend along altitude. We analyzed the (i) pattern of tree diversity and its endemic subset (ii) frequency distribution of altitudinal range and (iii) upper & lower distributional limits of each tree species along altitudinal gradients in eastern Himalaya. The study was conducted in Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. Data on the tree species (cbh ≥ 15 cm) were gathered every 200 m steps between 200 m and 2200 m gradients. Tree diversity demonstrated a greater variation along the gradients. A total of 336 species (of which 26 are endemic) were recorded belonging to 185 genera and 78 families. The alpha diversity demonstrated a decreasing pattern with two maxima (i.e., elevational peaks) along the gradients; one in 601–1000 m and the other in 1601–1800 m, corresponding to transition zones between tropical-subtropical and subtropical-temperate forests. Pattern diversity revealed a narrow range along the gradients. Frequency of altitudinal range was distributed between 1 and 41. Only one species (Altingia excelsa) showed widest amplitude, occurring over the entire range. Highest level of species turnover was found in 400–600 m step at lower elevational limit whereas for upper elevational limit, the highest turn over was recorded between 800 and 1000 m. Tree diversity decreased and its endemic subset increased along the gradients. Two maximas in tree diversity pattern correspond to forest transition zones with subtropical-temperate transition is narrower than tropical-subtropical. The pattern observed here could be attributed to varied microclimates or environmental heterogeneity. If altitudinal amplitude of a species is considered as an aspect of its niche breadth, it is clear from these results that niche breadth in these organisms is in fact independent of the diversity of the assemblage in which they occur. This analysis calls for detailed floristic studies to determine the breadth of changes between adjacent forest types and details of local species richness in high diversity areas.     

Notes On The Occurrence Of Clathrus Cancellatus,Tournf., In Argyllshire

Background: Estuaries are characterised by salinity gradients and regular flooding events. These environmental factors form stress gradients, along which species composition changes.

Aims: Analyse and compare patterns of plant species diversity along the estuarine salinity and flooding gradients of the Elbe and Connecticut Rivers.

Methods: Vegetation was sampled at three elevations (low, mid, high) in five sites of each marsh type (fresh, brackish, salt) in both estuaries. Patterns of species density (SD) and evenness (E) along the gradients were analysed and compared between the two estuaries with three-factor ANOVAs.

Results: The regional species pool was 33% higher for the Connecticut than for the Elbe. SD of fresh marshes (19 ± 2.2) was more than twice in the Connecticut than in the Elbe. We found an overall increase in SD from low to high elevation and from salt to freshwater marshes in both estuaries. However, SD and E were strongly depressed at intermediate elevations in the Elbe fresh and brackish marshes.

Conclusions: Although diversity patterns in the two estuaries show overall similarities, patterns of SD and E differ, when particular elevational zones and marsh types are compared. We hypothesise this to be due to evolutionary and historical influences on the regional species pools, shaping the impact of local biotic and abiotic processes.     

Climate change effects on turtles of the genus Kinosternon (Testudines: Kinosternidae): an assessment of habitat suitability and climate niche conservatism

The Chelonian lineage has been exposed to several climate change events along its evolutionary history, but the rapid contemporary change in climate patterns has the potential to erode turtle populations. This study focuses on (1) evaluating the climatically suitable area available for 15 species of mud turtles of the genus Kinosternon, and on (2) assessing whether or not these species retain their ancestral climate niche. Occurrence data was collected for these species and, using the Maxent algorithm and WorldClim bioclimatic variables, suitable present and future climatic niche areas were modeled. In addition, we also carried out climatic niche similarity analyses between pairs of species to evaluate whether these conserve their climatic niche. Our models suggest that most species of Kinosternon will lose a high proportion of their suitable habitat in the future. Most mud turtle species seem to conserve their climatic niche, suggesting the prevalence of niche conservatism in the group. Our results indicate that several mud turtle species could be at severe risk of disappearing over the next few decades due to the loss of climatically suitable areas and of the conservation of their climatic niches.

     

A taxonomic and phylogenetic perspective on plant community assembly along an elevational gradient in subtropical forests

亚热带森林植物群落沿海拔梯度的分类与系统发育研究 生物多样性沿海拔梯度的分布格局已受到广泛关注。然而,生物多样性格局沿海拔梯度的变异及其潜在机制尚不清楚。整合生物多样性的多维度信息为理解群落构建机制提供了新思路。本研究在我国东部亚热带森林沿海拔270–1470 m的梯度上设置了17个木本植物固定样地,分析了沿海拔梯度植物群落 构建的生态和进化驱动力。基于样地内物种出现(0–1数据)和多度信息,计算群落内被子植物的物种和系统发育alpha和beta多样性、系统发育结构等,并量化多样性指标与微气候和地形之间的关系。研究发现,不论多度加权与否,物种alpha多样性均沿海拔升高而增加,物种和系统发育的相似性随海拔距离的增加而呈衰减趋势。然而,多度加权与否会形成不同的系统发育alpha多样性格局。对于系统发育结构而言,沿海拔增加并无明显趋势。地形和微气候是多样性格局和系统发育结构的主要驱动力。与未考虑物种多度的多样性指标相比,多度加权的指标与坡度和胸高断面积相关性更高。这些结果表明,由局域物种多度介导的确定性过程对沿海拔梯度的植物群落构建具有一定影响。