Impacts of geographical distances and environmental differences on the beta diversity of plant communities in the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River

doi:10.17520/biods.2015245

Abstract

Abstract:

Beta diversity is the difference in species composition between locations. Recently, much of the published biodiversity research has focused on the assessment of beta diversity because it can be used to investigate community assembly and maintenance of species diversity. In this study, we investigated the impacts of dispersal limitation and habitat on the beta diversity of communities by sampling 41 plots throughout the dry-hot valley of Yuanjiang River. Taxonomic beta diversity and phylogenetic beta diversity were quantified using Jaccard dissimilarity, mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD), and mean pairwise distance (MPD). These indices were then related to the differences in environmental characteristics between sample plots and the geographical distances separating sample plots using multiple regression on distance matrices (MRM) and variance partitioning. The results showed that taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity indices significantly increased with the spatial distance and difference in mean annual temperature between communities; that taxonomic beta diversity and MNTD were most strongly influenced by spatial distance, whereas MPD was equally influenced by spatial distance and mean annual temperature difference between communities; and that only 11-13% of the variance in beta diversity was explained by the spatial distance and mean annual temperature difference between communities. These results highlight the effects of niche and dispersal limitations on beta diversity, and suggest that dispersal limitation may play a greater role than habitat differences between plant community locations. Additionally, human disturbances may greatly impact species composition along the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River.

Key words: community assembly, phylogenetic beta diversity, niche, dispersal limitation, human disturbances

Xinhui Li,Yanhong Liu,Ye Liu,Yue Xu,Yang Yang,Zehao Shen. Impacts of geographical distances and environmental differences on the beta diversity of plant communities in the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2016, 24(4): 399-406.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2015245

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2016/V24/I4/399

Figures/Tables 4

Fig. 1 Distribution of 41 sample sites along the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River in Yunnan Province

Fig. 2 Phylogenetic tree with branch lengths for the sample plants in the dry-hot valley of the Yuanjiang River. Based on the phylogenetic tree of Zanne et al (2014).

Fig. 3 Relationships between beta diversity and the differences in mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation and geographical distance in sample sites

Fig. 4 Percentage of variance of beta diversity across 41 plots explained by the differences in mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, and geographical distance in sample sites (Values < 0 not shown). A, Jaccard dissimilarity; B, Mean pairwise distance; C, Mean nearest taxon distance.

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