%A Yuexia Wang, Yi Jin, Chuping Wu, Dongming Wong, Lixing Ye, Deliang Chen, Jianping Yu, Jinliang Liu, Lei Zhong, Mingjian Yu %T Taxonomic and phylogenetic α and β diversities of major subtropical forest community types in Zhejiang Province %0 Journal Article %D 2016 %J Biodiv Sci %R 10.17520/biods.2016114 %P 863-874 %V 24 %N 8 %U {https://www.biodiversity-science.net/CN/abstract/article_8887.shtml} %8 2016-08-20 %X

Knowledge of taxonomic and phylogenetic α and β diversities of different forest types is critical to improving our understanding of forests and their structure, which can guide forest management and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we investigated the taxonomic and phylogenetic α (Shannon-Wiener index and PSV (phylogenetic species variability) diversity, respectively) and β (Chao’s index and PCDp (phylogenetic community dissimilarity among nonshared species) diversity, respectively) diversities of four main forest types, including evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBLF), evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest (EDBLF), deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBLF), and coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CBLF) in Zhejiang Province. α diversity represents biodiversity within a single forest plot; β diversity is divided into two levels. One is the β diversity between forest plots within a single forest type (intra-forest type β diversity), and the other the β diversity between forest plots from different forest types (inter-forest type β diversity). We found that the taxonomic and phylogenetic α diversities differed among forest types. However, when the geographical and topographical variables were taken into account, these differences largely disappeared. We also found the intra- and inter-forest type β diversities greatly differed, and the overall intra-forest type β diversity was lower than inter-forest type β diversity, regardless of whether geographical and topographical variables were controlled. These results suggest the controlling factors of taxonomic and phylogenetic α and β diversities differ in the studied subtropical forest types. Geographical and topographical variables may play critical roles in influencing forest taxonomic and phylogenetic α diversities, whereas forest type is largely responsible for forest taxonomic and phylogenetic β diversities.