山西陵川南方红豆杉自然保护区鹅耳枥植物群落谱系结构特征

分析植物群落谱系结构,可以探究乔木层、灌木层和草本层物种对环境变化的响应情况。以山西陵川南方红豆杉自然保护区鹅耳枥群落为研究对象,采用样方法,分别从不同径级和不同坡向对鹅耳枥群落净谱系亲缘关系指数(Net relatedness index,NRI)和净最近种间亲缘关系指数(Nearest taxon index,NTI)进行研究,探讨了鹅耳枥群落沿着径级梯度形成群落谱系结构特征,进而分析了鹅耳枥群落构建的历史进程。结果表明:(1)该保护区鹅耳枥群落乔木层(26种)、灌木层(32种)和草本层(39种)谱系结构树可分为5个类群、5个类群和4个类群;乔木层(86.67%的样地,下同)和灌木层(73.33%)物种群落谱系结构呈谱系发散格局(NRI0,NTI0),但草本层(86.67%)物种群落谱系结构呈谱系聚集格局(NRI0,NTI0)。(2)鹅耳枥群落乔木层中,DBH在Ⅰ级至Ⅱ级间,NRI指数随着DBH的增大而减小,NTI指数随着DBH的增大而增大;在Ⅱ级至Ⅴ级之间,随着植物DBH增大NRI指数和NTI指数值均呈下降趋势;而且在不同DBH水平上群落NRI和NTI指数均差异显著(P0.05),说明随着径级的增大,群落谱系结构由谱系聚集变为谱系发散。(3)灌木层物种谱系结构在阴坡和阳坡均呈聚集型,乔木层阴坡物种的谱系结构呈发散型(NRI0,NTI0),乔木层阳坡和草本层阴阳坡群落均无法判定群落谱系结构是聚集还是发散。     

群落构建研究的新进展:进化和生态相结合的群落谱系结构研究

群落如何构建足群落生态学中的重要问题.群落谱系结构研究将物种间的亲缘进化关系运用到群落生态学研究中,利用物种的系统发育状况推测历史因素对现有群落的影响,为推断影响群落组成的生态学机制提供了有效方法.群落谱系结构的研究方法是首先建立可代表群落物种库的超级系统进化树,然后计算群落内物种间的谱系距离,最后通过统计方法检测其与随机模型下的谱系距离是否有显著差异来获得谱系结构(如谱系聚集、谱系发散),从而揭示群落构建中的关键生态过程(如生境过滤、竞争作用).群落谱系结构与空间尺度、分类群尺度、时间尺度等不同研究尺度有关.在小的空间尺度下,随着分类群尺度降低、树木年龄级增大,群落谱系结构从聚集逐渐转为发散;而随群落空间尺度的增大,谱系趋向于聚集.谱系结构受到环境因素影响,因此分析集合群落下的谱系可以揭示区域生态过程的影响.另外,群落谱系结构研究还有助于探讨中性理论、密度制约假说等生态学理论,并预测干扰作用下的群落演化趋势.在利用谱系结构深入探讨群落构建成因时,需要基于生态特征和环境变量共同分析,同时考虑小尺度局域过程(群落的微环境或群落内种间相互作用等)和大尺度区域过程(地史过程和物种形成等),并可结合生态控制实验,以确认群落构建的关键因素.在研究方法和手段上,今后需要注重通过选择合适的基因片段建立系统树,然后通过生态特征来加以校正,以更准确地反映物种间的亲缘距离.另外,获得谱系树后还需要寻找更加合理的统计模型和指数,增加统计分析和解决问题的能力.     

川中丘陵区人工柏木林林下群落谱系结构

探索人工林不同生长发育阶段林下群落的谱系结构,可以为森林群落构建机制的解释和生态修复等提供理论依据。本研究选择川中丘陵区不同林龄(15～24年、25～34年、35年以上)的人工柏木(Cupressus funebris)纯林为对象,基于被子植物分类系统Ⅲ谱系框架,选择净亲缘指数(NRI)和最近类群指数(NTI),研究不同生长发育阶段林下灌草层的谱系结构及其变化规律。结果表明：15～24年人工柏木林的林下灌草层物种的组成均表现出了谱系发散(NRI<0,NTI<0),即共存物种亲缘关系疏远;25～34年林下灌草层的谱系结构趋于谱系随机;35年以上的林下灌草层的谱系结构表现为聚集(NRI>0,NTI>0)。不同生长发育阶段林下灌草的谱系多样性指数均表现出显著正相关;不同生长发育阶段林下灌木层之间的NRI指数均呈显著差异,草本层之间NTI的指数也表现出同样的结果;处在25～34年和35年以上林下草本层之间的NRI以及灌木层之间的NTI均无差异,而与15～24年的相应指数呈显著差异。从同一林龄不同林下层之间的比较看,灌木层的谱系结构指数显著不同于草本层;不同生长发育阶段人...     

物种多度和径级尺度对于评价群落系统发育结构的影响: 以尖峰岭热带山地雨林为例

研究不同径级尺度群落系统发育多样性有助于了解不同年龄模式下物种的亲缘关系及其群落系统发育结构; 但是关于物种多度对群落系统发育结构影响的研究较少。以海南尖峰岭热带山地雨林群落为例, 首先在不同径级尺度比较物种多度加权与否分别对4个广泛采用的系统发育指数的影响, 继而利用其中2个经过标准化处理的系统发育多样性指数: 净种间亲缘关系指数(net relatedness index, NRI)和净最近种间亲缘关系指数(nearest taxon index, NTI), 结合群落的生境类型来量度不同局域生境条件下不同径级尺度木本植物系统发育关系。结果发现: (1)未考虑物种多度加权的系统发育平均成对距离(mean pairwise distance, MPD)指数比考虑物种多度加权的MPD指数显著地高估了群落整体系统发育多样性, 且这种现象在小径级尺度(1 cm≤DBH<5 cm)最为明显。因此, 在森林监测样地中对于中、小径级群落系统发育结构研究中建议考虑物种多度信息。(2) 从群落组成整体系统发育结构来看, 尖峰岭热带山地雨林在几乎所有径级尺度和生境下均倾向于系统发育发散, 且随着径级的递增发散程度趋于明显(NRI<0)。(3)从群落组成局部系统发育结构来看, 尖峰岭热带山地雨林在中、小径级倾向于系统发育聚集(NTI>0), 而在大径级(DBH≥15 cm)则倾向于系统发育发散(NTI<0)。总之, 研究群落系统发育结构时应考虑物种多度的影响以及径级尺度效应。     

芦芽山荷叶坪亚高山草甸生物多样性

以芦芽山荷叶坪亚高山草甸为研究对象,共设置150个5 m×5 m草本样方,进行群落生物学调查,对研究区36种草本植物重要值、α多样性指数、谱系多样性指数及其相关性进行研究.结果表明: 荷叶坪亚高山草甸物种多样性总体分布较均匀,边缘地区物种更丰富,呈现“边缘效应”;4个样地的群落谱系结构呈聚集模式,12个样地的群落谱系结构呈分散模式;谱系多样性指数(PD)与Petrick指数、Simpson指数和Shannon指数呈正相关,净亲缘关系指数(NRI)和最近种间亲缘关系指数(NTI)与α物种多样性指数无明显相关性.     

不同尺度上环境因子对常绿阔叶林群落的谱系结构的影响

群落的谱系结构是反映作用于群落组成的各种生态过程的综合指标。通过研究群落的谱系结构, 能够有效地推断形成群落谱系结构的生态过程。该文从环境因子(海拔、地形、pH、土壤湿度和土壤元素等)对群落谱系结构的影响这一视角出发, 采用圆形随机取样, 在半径为5、25、50、75和100 m 5个尺度上, 深入研究了古田山24 hm²永久样地群落的谱系结构。研究发现: 古田山样地在所有研究尺度上(半径 > 5 m)都表现为谱系聚集, 随着尺度的增加, 群落的聚集程度呈现出先增加后下降的格局。采用多元线性回归模型分析环境因子对群落谱系结构的影响时发现: 随着尺度的增加, 环境因子对群落谱系结构的影响逐渐增强; 在小尺度上, 环境因子对谱系结构没有显著影响, 这可能是由于小尺度上近缘种之间较强的竞争排斥作用所致。当尺度达到100 m半径时, 高海拔区域表现出谱系发散格局, 而低海拔区域保持谱系聚集, 这可能是由于古田山样地海拔较高的地带生境异质性较强和较大的干扰所致。该研究在所有的尺度上都表现出显著的谱系聚集, 与中性理论所预测的群落是物种的随机组合、无谱系结构相反, 因而为生态位理论提供了证据。     

暖温带–北亚热带过渡带落叶阔叶林群落不同径级系统发育结构的变化

群落的系统发育结构能够有效地反映各种生态过程对群落组成的影响,通过研究群落系统发育结构能推断出其形成的生态过程,对于揭示群落动态具有重要意义。作者将宝天曼1 ha落叶阔叶林样地分为10 m×10 m、20m×20 m、25 m×25 m三个尺度的样方,将样地内乔木个体划分为小径级(1 cm≤DBH5 cm)、中径级(5 cm≤DBH10 cm)、大径级(DBH≥10 cm)三个径级,通过比较各个阶段系统发育结构的变化,来分析其群落系统发育结构的生态过程。不同零模型的比较发现,宝天曼落叶阔叶林群落的净系统发育亲缘关系指数(net relatedness index,NRI)和最近种间亲缘关系指数(net nearest taxa index,NTI)值都随着研究尺度和径级的增加而降低,表明该群落在不同时空尺度上都表现出群落系统发育结构发散,而且系统发育密度制约对大径级个体的系统发育结构的影响大于小径级个体。上述结果说明密度制约是地处暖温带–亚热带过渡带的宝天曼落叶阔叶林群落物种多样性维持的重要机制。     

常绿阔叶林谱系多样性对幼苗存活率的影响

密度制约机制对于维护生物多样性有非常重要的作用。随着对密度制约机制的深入研究, 人们逐渐认识到: 不仅在种内存在密度制约效应, 亲缘关系相近的物种之间也可能表现出密度制约效应。Webb在2000年提出的NRI (净种间亲缘关系指数)、NTI (净最近种间亲缘关系指数)考虑了比较全面的谱系信息, 获得了广泛的应用。该文采用NRI、NTI来代表种间关系, 并用Logistic回归模型来分析了谱系因子对浙江省开化县古田山自然保护区24 hm²永久监测样地中501个幼苗样方死亡率的影响。通过对6次幼苗调查数据的分析表明: 不仅相同物种密度对于幼苗的死亡率有显著影响, 当密度达到一定水平时, 谱系因子同样也对幼苗的死亡率有显著影响——苗区中个体间的亲缘关系越近, 幼苗个体的死亡率越高。     

不同时间和空间尺度上台湾水青冈群落谱系结构动态变化

群落谱系结构是了解群落聚群过程的一个基础研究内容。但是现有大部分研究内容集中在群落组成和结构的时空差异,对谱系结构的动态变化研究较少。以浙江省清凉峰国家级自然保护区的国家二级保护植物台湾水青冈(Fagus hayatae)林为研究对象,利用2006年、2011年、2016年3次群落动态调查数据,从10、20、50m的3个空间尺度上研究该群落在10a间的谱系结构动态变化,分析时空尺度对台湾水青冈群落谱系结构的影响,探究调控台湾水青冈群落动态变化的主要因子,为后期台湾水青冈林的保护提供理论基础。研究发现(1)在10a森林动态变化过程中,群落的MPD指数下降,MNTD指数增加。NRI和NTI指数在大尺度上随时间显著增加,但在小尺度上无显著变化。(2)随着空间尺度的增加,上述指数的动态变化趋势均不断增强。以上结果表明,2006—2016年间台湾水青冈群落总体谱系结构表现出不断聚集的趋势,而近缘种的谱系关系则不断疏远;群落谱系结构的聚集趋势随空间尺度的增加而增强。大尺度上的环境过滤和小尺度上的随机过程和种间竞争作用可能是导致该地区台湾水青冈群落谱系结构动态变化的主要生态学过程。     

不同空间尺度西藏色季拉山急尖长苞冷杉群落谱系结构特征

基于西藏色季拉山4 hm²亚高山暗针叶林固定样地调查数据,分析了急尖长苞冷杉群落内6个径级(1～2、2～4、4～7、7～11、11～16、>16 cm)的植物在5个空间尺度(5 m×5 m、10 m×10 m、20 m×20 m、50 m×50 m、100 m×100 m)上的谱系结构。结果表明: 不同空间尺度上,该群落的净谱系亲缘关系指数(NRI)和净最近种间亲缘关系指数(NTI)值均大于零,整体上表现为谱系聚集。在小空间尺度(5 m×5 m)上,谱系结构聚集强度最大。在所有空间尺度上,群落内小径级个体表现为谱系聚集,随着径级的增大(DBH>7 cm),逐渐表现为谱系发散,且发散程度随径级增加而增大。小径级个体的谱系聚集强度随空间尺度而增大;而大径级个体(DBH>7 cm)的谱系发散程度随空间尺度增加而增大。小径级群落的生境过滤和大径级群落的竞争排斥作用可能是驱动该区域急尖长苞冷杉群落构建的主要生态学过程。     

Directional biases in phylogenetic structure quantification: a Mediterranean case study

Recent years have seen an increasing effort to incorporate phylogenetic hypotheses to the study of community assembly processes. The incorporation of such evolutionary information has been eased by the emergence of specialized software for the automatic estimation of partially resolved supertrees based on published phylogenies. Despite this growing interest in the use of phylogenies in ecological research, very few studies have attempted to quantify the potential biases related to the use of partially resolved phylogenies and to branch length accuracy, and no work has examined how tree shape may affect inference of community phylogenetic metrics. In this study, we tested the influence of phylogenetic resolution and branch length information on the quantification of phylogenetic structure, and also explored the impact of tree shape (stemminess) on the loss of accuracy in phylogenetic structure quantification due to phylogenetic resolution. For this purpose, we used 9 sets of phylogenetic hypotheses of varying resolution and branch lengths to calculate three indices of phylogenetic structure: the mean phylogenetic distance (NRI), the mean nearest taxon distance (NTI) and phylogenetic diversity (stdPD) metrics. The NRI metric was the less sensitive to phylogenetic resolution, stdPD showed an intermediate sensitivity, and NTI was the most sensitive one; NRI was also less sensitive to branch length accuracy than NTI and stdPD, the degree of sensitivity being strongly dependent on the dating method and the sample size. Directional biases were generally towards type II errors. Interestingly, we detected that tree shape influenced the accuracy loss derived from the lack of phylogenetic resolution, particularly for NRI and stdPD. We conclude that well‐resolved molecular phylogenies with accurate branch length information are needed to identify the underlying phylogenetic structure of communities, and also that sensitivity of phylogenetic structure measures to low phylogenetic resolution can strongly vary depending on phylogenetic tree shape.     

Multi-scale phylogenetic structure in coastal dune plant communities across the globe

Aims Studies integrating phylogenetic history and large-scale community assembly are few, and many questions remain unanswered. Here, we use a global coastal dune plant data set to uncover the important factors in community assembly across scales from the local filtering processes to the global long-term diversification and dispersal dynamics. Coastal dune plant communities occur worldwide under a wide range of climatic and geologic conditions as well as in all biogeographic regions. However, global patterns in the phylogenetic composition of coastal dune plant communities have not previously been studied.Methods The data set comprised vegetation data from 18463 plots in New Zealand, South Africa, South America, North America and Europe. The phylogenetic tree comprised 2241 plant species from 149 families. We calculated phylogenetic clustering (Net Relatedness Index, NRI, and Nearest Taxon Index, NTI) of regional dune floras to estimate the amount of in situ diversification relative to the global dune species pool and evaluated the relative importance of land and climate barriers for these diversification patterns by geographic analyses of phylogenetic similarity. We then tested whether dune plant communities exhibit similar patterns of phylogenetic structure within regions. Finally, we calculated NRI for local communities relative to the regional species pool and tested for an association with functional traits (plant height and seed mass) thought to vary along sea–inland gradients.Important findings Regional species pools were phylogenetically clustered relative to the global pool, indicating regional diversification. NTI showed stronger clustering than NRI pointing to the importance of especially recent diversifications within regions. The species pools grouped phylogenetically into two clusters on either side of the tropics suggesting greater dispersal rates within hemispheres than between hemispheres. Local NRI plot values confirmed that most communities were also phylogenetically clustered within regions. NRI values decreased with increasing plant height and seed mass, indicating greater phylogenetic clustering in communities with short maximum height and good dispersers prone to wind and tidal disturbance as well as salt spray, consistent with environmental filtering along sea–inland gradients. Height and seed mass both showed significant phylogenetic signal, and NRI tended to correlate negatively with both at the plot level. Low NRI plots tended to represent coastal scrub and forest, whereas high NRI plots tended to represent herb-dominated vegetation. We conclude that regional diversification processes play a role in dune plant community assembly, with convergence in local phylogenetic community structure and local variation in community structure probably reflecting consistent coastal-inland gradients. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the globally distributed dynamic coastal ecosystems and the structuring factors working on dune plant communities across spatial scales and regions.     

The phylogenetic structure of primate communities: variation within and across continents

Aim Our goals are: (1) to examine the relative degree of phylogenetic overdispersion or clustering of species in communities relative to the entire species pool, (2) to test for across‐continent differences in community phylogenetic structure, and (3) to examine the relationship between species richness and community phylogenetic structure. Location Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and the Neotropics. Methods We collected species composition and phylogenetic data for over 100 primate communities. For each community, we calculated two measures of phylogenetic structure: (1) the net relatedness index (NRI), which provides a measure of the mean pairwise phylogenetic distance among all species in the community; and (2) the nearest taxon index (NTI), which measures the relative phylogenetic distance among the closest related species in a community. Both measures are relative to the phylogeny of the species in the entire species pool. The phylocom package uses a randomization procedure to test whether the NRI and NTI values are higher or lower than expected by chance alone. In addition, we used a Kruskal–Wallis test to examine differences in NRI and NTI across continents, and linear regressions to examine the relationship between species richness and NRI/NTI. Results We found that the majority of individual primate communities in Africa, Asia and the Neotropics consist of member species that are neither more nor less closely related than expected by chance alone. Yet 37% of Malagasy communities contain species that are more distantly related to each other compared with random species assemblages. Also, we found that the average degree of relatedness among species in communities differed significantly across continents, with African and Malagasy communities consisting of more distantly related taxa compared with communities in Asia and the Neotropics. Finally, we found a significant negative relationship between species richness and phylogenetic distance among species in African, Asian and Malagasy communities. The average relatedness among species in communities decreased as community size increased. Main conclusions The majority of individual primate communities exhibit a phylogenetic structure no different from random. Yet there are across‐continent differences in the phylogenetic structure of primate communities that probably result from the unique ecological and evolutionary characteristics exhibited by the endemic species found on each continent. In particular, the recent extinctions of numerous primates on Madagascar are likely responsible for the low levels of evolutionary relatedness among species in Malagasy communities.     

Climatic correlates of phylogenetic relatedness of woody angiosperms in forest communities along a tropical elevational gradient in South America

Aims This study assesses the relationship between phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm tree species and climatic variables in local forests distributed along a tropical elevational gradient in South America. In particular, this paper addresses two questions: Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities related to temperature variables more strongly than to water variables for tropical elevational gradients? Is phylogenetic relatedness of plant species in communities driven by extreme climatic conditions (e.g. minimum temperature (MT) and water deficit) more strongly than by climatic seasonal variability (e.g. temperature seasonality and precipitation seasonality)?Methods I used a set of 34 angiosperm woody plant assemblages along an elevational gradient in the Andes within less than 5 degrees of the equator. Phylogenetic relatedness was quantified as net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI) and was related to major climatic variables. Correlation analysis and structure equation modeling approach were used to assess the relationships between phylogenetic relatedness and climatic variables.Important findings Phylogenetic relatedness of angiosperm woody species in the local forest communities is more strongly associated with temperature-related variables than with water-related variables, is positively correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT) and MT, and is related with extreme cold temperature more strongly than with seasonal temperature variability. NTI was related with elevation, MAT and MT more strongly than was NRI. Niche convergence, rather than niche conservatism, has played a primary role in driving community assembly in local forests along the tropical elevational gradient examined. Negative correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and higher correlations of phylogenetic relatedness with elevation and temperature for NTI than for NRI indicate that evolution of cold tolerance at high elevations in tropical regions primarily occurred at recent (terminal) phylogenetic nodes widely distributed among major clades.     

Climate and Species Richness Predict the Phylogenetic Structure of African Mammal Communities

We have little knowledge of how climatic variation (and by proxy, habitat variation) influences the phylogenetic structure of tropical communities. Here, we quantified the phylogenetic structure of mammal communities in Africa to investigate how community structure varies with respect to climate and species richness variation across the continent. In addition, we investigated how phylogenetic patterns vary across carnivores, primates, and ungulates. We predicted that climate would differentially affect the structure of communities from different clades due to between-clade biological variation. We examined 203 communities using two metrics, the net relatedness (NRI) and nearest taxon (NTI) indices. We used simultaneous autoregressive models to predict community phylogenetic structure from climate variables and species richness. We found that most individual communities exhibited a phylogenetic structure consistent with a null model, but both climate and species richness significantly predicted variation in community phylogenetic metrics. Using NTI, species rich communities were composed of more distantly related taxa for all mammal communities, as well as for communities of carnivorans or ungulates. Temperature seasonality predicted the phylogenetic structure of mammal, carnivoran, and ungulate communities, and annual rainfall predicted primate community structure. Additional climate variables related to temperature and rainfall also predicted the phylogenetic structure of ungulate communities. We suggest that both past interspecific competition and habitat filtering have shaped variation in tropical mammal communities. The significant effect of climatic factors on community structure has important implications for the diversity of mammal communities given current models of future climate change.     

戴云山物种多样性与系统发育多样性海拔梯度分布格局及驱动因子

生物多样性的海拔分布格局是生态学研究的热点。海拔作为综合性因子驱动着植物群落的物种、系统发育与功能多样性的空间分布。以戴云山南坡900-1600 m森林植物群落为研究对象,探讨物种多样性、系统发育指数与环境驱动因子的相互关系以及环境因子在群落构建与多样性维持中的重要意义。结果表明：（1）森林植物群落的系统发育多样性与物种多样性沿海拔均呈现中间高度膨胀格局。（2）物种多样性Margalef指数、Shannon-Wiener指数与系统发育多样性指数呈显著正相关,表明物种多样性越高,系统发育多样性也越高。Shannon-Wiener指数与物种多样性指数（Margalef、Pielou、Simpson指数）、系统发育多样性及系统发育结构都存在显著相关性,一定程度上Shannon-Wiener指数可以代替其他指数。Pielou指数、Simpson指数、Shannon-Wiener指数与系统发育结构NRI （Net relatedness index）指数、NTI （Net nearest taxa index）指数存在显著正相关,表明群落优势度、均匀度与系统发育结构相关性较强。（3）土壤全磷含量是影响系统发育多样性和物种多样性的主要驱动因子,土壤含水量是影响Shannon-Wiener、Pielou、Simpson指数的最显著因子,海拔是影响群落系统发育结构的主要因素。海拔是影响系统发育结构变化的主要环境因子,而土壤因子是影响物种多样性与系统发育多样性的主要因素,进一步验证了物种多样性与系统发育多样性的高度相关,结果旨在揭示物种群落空间分布规律。     

The phylogenetic properties of native‐ and exotic‐dominated plant communities

Phylogenetic properties of communities (phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic structure) allow for the characterisation of phylogenetic patterns and provide the information necessary to infer mechanisms of species assembly. Because humans have introduced exotic species and modified the physical conditions of landscapes, the phylogenetic properties of communities should change according to the proportion of natives to exotics hosted by sites and to the strength of the conditions that act as habitat filters in human‐disturbed habitats. To assess the effects of the introduction of exotic plant species, we characterized the phylogenetic properties of 67 plant communities with different degrees of exotic species dominance in a region of central Chile with a Mediterranean climate. Five indices were used to estimate the phylogenetic properties. The Faith index (FPD), the mean pairwise distance (MPD) and the mean nearest neighbour distance (MNND) were used to estimate phylogenetic diversity, and the nearest relative index (NRI) and the nearest taxon index (NTI) were used as estimators of the phylogenetic structure (the phylogenetic distribution of taxa in a community) of species assemblages. We observed greater phylogenetic diversity of natives versus exotic plants despite the fact that natives accounted for a fewer number of taxa among the studied communities. Second, assemblages exhibited a phylogenetically clustered structure, which is attributable to an over‐representation of some families of exotic flora (Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Papaveraceae, Poaceae) and suggests habitat filtering processes that could have acted by selecting species with traits that permit adaptation to the harsh conditions of human‐disturbed sites.     

Species richness and phylogenetic diversity of seed plants across vegetation zones of Mount Kenya,East Africa

Mount Kenya is of ecological importance in tropical east Africa due to the dramatic gradient in vegetation types that can be observed from low to high elevation zones. However, species richness and phylogenetic diversity of this mountain have not been well studied. Here, we surveyed distribution patterns for a total of 1,335 seed plants of this mountain and calculated species richness and phylogenetic diversity across seven vegetation zones. We also measured phylogenetic structure using the net relatedness index (NRI) and the nearest species index (NTI). Our results show that lower montane wet forest has the highest level of species richness, density, and phylogenetic diversity of woody plants, while lower montane dry forest has the highest level of species richness, density, and phylogenetic diversity in herbaceous plants. In total plants, NRI and NTI of four forest zones were smaller than three alpine zones. In woody plants, lower montane wet forest and upper montane forest have overdispersed phylogenetic structures. In herbaceous plants, NRI of Afro‐alpine zone and nival zone are smaller than those of bamboo zone, upper montane forest, and heath zone. We suggest that compared to open dry forest, humid forest has fewer herbaceous plants because of the closed canopy of woody plants. Woody plants may have climate‐dominated niches, whereas herbaceous plants may have edaphic and microhabitat‐dominated niches. We also proposed lower and upper montane forests with high species richness or overdispersed phylogenetic structures as the priority areas in conservation of Mount Kenya and other high mountains in the Eastern Afro‐montane biodiversity hotspot regions.