Diversity patterns and influencing factors of sawfly communities in Mt. Wuyanling, Zhejiang Province, China

doi:10.17520/biods.2025459

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: This study investigated sawfly communities in the Wuyanling National Nature Reserve, which preserves the most intact mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in East China. This study aimed to: (1) explore the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of sawfly diversity across different elevations and months; and (2) identify the environmental drivers shaping these diversity patterns.

Methods: We established four fixed transects along elevation gradients within the reserve. Repeated systematic surveys were conducted from March to July in 2023 and 2024 to compile a species checklist and obtain abundance data.

Results: The results showed that regarding α diversity, sawfly species diversity and richness decreased significantly with increasing elevation (P < 0.05), and sawfly richness was significantly lower in July (P < 0.05), whereas the other diversity indices showed no significant differences among months (P > 0.05). Generalized additive model (GAM) results indicated that the response of species richness to elevation was characterized by multiple local peaks and valleys. Daily mean temperature exhibited a significant unimodal relationship with species richness, while daily relative humidity showed a weak non-linear effect. There were significant positive linear correlations between surface pressure and species richness, and between elevation and community evenness. For β diversity, community composition differed significantly across elevation zones and months, and was primarily driven by species turnover processes. Mantel tests revealed that the total variation in community composition and the spatial turnover component were significantly positively correlated with variations in multiple environmental factors, and community similarity decreased significantly with increasing environmental distance.

Conclusion: This study supplements the regional checklist of sawfly taxa and systematically reveals the spatial distribution patterns of sawfly communities in Mt. Wuyanling. These findings provide essential baseline data for regional insect diversity surveys and offer insights for biodiversity conservation in subtropical mountain ecosystems.

Key words: sawfly communities, species checklist, insect diversity distribution, Zhejiang Province

Hailong Zhang, Haiyan Nie, Mengmeng Liu, Meicai Wei, Zejian Li. Diversity patterns and influencing factors of sawfly communities in Mt. Wuyanling, Zhejiang Province, China[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2026, 34(6): 25459.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2025459

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2026/V34/I6/25459

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Location of sawfly survey grid cell (gc) of Wuyanling National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang

Table 1 Number of individuals and taxonomic abundance of different families of sawfly insects

科 Family	个体数量 Number of individuals		属 Genus		种 Species
科 Family	数量 Number	占比 Proportion (%)	数量 Number	占比 Proportion (%)	数量 Number	占比 Proportion (%)
叶蜂科 Tenthredinidae	783	78.61	48	78.69	96	80.00
棒蜂科 Xyelidae	103	10.36	1	1.64	1	0.83
锤角叶蜂科 Cimbicidae	44	4.42	2	3.28	5	4.17
三节叶蜂科 Argidae	30	3.01	3	4.92	11	9.17
树蜂科 Siricidae	28	2.81	1	1.64	1	0.83
松叶蜂科 Diprionidae	3	0.30	3	4.92	3	2.50
茎蜂科 Cephidae	2	0.20	1	1.64	1	0.83
残青叶蜂科 Athaliidae	2	0.20	1	1.64	1	0.83
项蜂科 Xiphydriidae	1	0.10	1	1.64	1	0.83
合计 Total	996	100.00	61	100.00	120	100.00

Fig. 2 General characteristics of the sawfly community. (a) Abundance rank curve; (b) Species accumulation curve; (c) Relationship between genus and species numbers; (d) Individual counts of major sawfly species (individuals > 10).

Fig. 3 Spatiotemporal dynamics of α diversity indices. (a-d) Boxplots of diversity indices across different elevation gradients; (e-h) Boxplots of diversity indices across different months. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences among groups (P < 0.05, Tukey’s HSD test).

Fig. 4 Generalized additive model analysis illustrating the influences of environmental variables on α diversity indices of sawfly communities. Solid lines represent fitted smooth curves, grey shaded areas indicate 95% confidence intervals, and points represent partial residuals; EDF = 1 suggests an approximately linear relationship, EDF > 1 indicates a nonlinear relationship, and EDF = 0 implies that the variable effect has been shrunk by the model to near zero with negligible explanatory power.

Fig. 5 Spatiotemporal dynamics of β diversity indices. (a) Jaccard dissimilarity and its turnover and nestedness components across elevation gradients; (b) Venn diagram of species composition among elevation gradients; (c) Jaccard dissimilarity and its turnover and nestedness components across months; (d) Venn diagram of species composition among months. Total, Overall β diversity; Turnover, Turnover component; Nestedness, Nestedness component.

Fig. 6 Distance-decay patterns of sawfly community β diversity and the environmental driving effects. (a) Decay regulation of sawfly community similarity with increasing environmental distance; (b) Mantel correlations of overall β diversity and its components with environmental factors (line colors represent significance levels of Mantel tests, line widths represent the magnitudes of Mantel’s r values, and heatmap colors represent Pearson correlation coefficients among environmental factors).

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