Abstract
Plant diversity is multidimensional and scale-dependent. In this chapter, patterns of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity in the tropical cloud forests (TCFs) in Hainan were studied. A total of 48 plots (20 m × 20 m) were established in the TCFs in Jianfengling (JFL, n = 12), Bawangling (BWL, n = 21), and Limushan (LMS, n = 15). Within each plot, plants with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥1 cm were identified, and their height and DBH were measured; plants’ leaves and branches were sampled for measuring wood density, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, and chlorophyll content. The α and β diversity was measured using these data and compared among TCFs at 5 m × 5 m, 10 m × 10 m, and 20 m × 20 m scales. Our results showed that, at each scale, the stem abundance and species richness of TCFs decreased from JFL to BWL and then to LMS, and the Jaccard index and Bray-Curtis index of the TCF in BWL was lower than that in LMS and JFL. The TCF in JFL showed lower functional richness and Rao’s quadratic entropy but higher functional evenness than the others, while its functional β diversity was also lower. The TCF in BWL showed the highest phylogenetic diversity (PD) and mean nearest phylogenetic distance (MNND), that in JFL showed the highest mean pairwise phylogenetic distance (MPD) but lowest MNND, and that in LMS showed the lowest PD and MPD. The mean pairwise trait distance between communities of TCFs decreased from JFL to BWL and then to LMS; TCF in BWL showed the highest values of mean nearest trait distance at the 5 m × 5 m scale but the lowest values at the 20 m × 20 m scale, while the values in JFL were lower than those in LMS at each scale. These results demonstrate the significant diversity differences across the TCFs in Hainan and suggest that the scale dependence of diversity is sensitive to the way diversity is measured.
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Wang, X., Long, W., Zang, R., Xiong, M. (2022). Variation in Plant Diversity in Three Tropical Cloud Forests in Hainan Island. In: Long, W. (eds) Tropical Cloud Forest Ecology in Hainan Island. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3655-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3655-5_3
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