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North-south vegetation transition in the eastern Qinling-Daba Mountains

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Abstract

The Qinling-Daba Mountains are the main body of China’s North-South Transitional Zone. Analysis of the north-south gradual variation of vegetation components is significant for understanding the structural diversity and complexity of this transitional zone. In this study, based on survey data of plant communities, the eastern Qinling-Daba Mountains is divided into four geographic units: the north flank of eastern Qinling Mts., south flank of eastern Qinling Mts., north flank of eastern Daba Mts. and south flank of eastern Daba Mts. We also explore division of regional climate according to areal differentiation of plant-species, community structure and species-richness, respectively. The results show that, (1) at plant-species level, there are mainly northern plants in north flank of eastern Qinling Mts. with evergreen species and fewer northern plants in south flank of eastern Qinling Mts.; there are mainly southern plants in eastern Daba Mts. (2) At community structure level, there are 4 formations (3 northern formations and 1 widespread formation) in north flank of eastern Qinling, 6 formations (3 northern formations, 1 southern formation, and 2 widespread formations) in south flank of eastern Qinling, 4 formations (2 southern formations and 2 widespread formations) in north flank of eastern Daba Mts., and 3 formations (3 southern formations) in south flank of eastern Daba Mts. In terms of the numbers and properties of formations, there is a mixture of northern and southern formations only in the south flank of eastern Qinling Mts. (3) At species-richness level, the diversity of families, genera and species decreased with increasing latitude, but the mixing of northern plants and the southern plants began to occur in south flank of eastern Qinling Mts. This means that the south flank of the eastern Qinling Mts. serves more suitably as the dividing line between China’s warm temperate and subtropical zones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xinghang Zhang, Baiping Zhang, Jing Wang, Fuqin Yu & Yonghui Yao

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xinghang Zhang, Jing Wang & Fuqin Yu

  3. Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 100007, China

    Chao Zhao

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  1. Xinghang Zhang
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  2. Baiping Zhang
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  3. Jing Wang
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  4. Fuqin Yu
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  5. Chao Zhao
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  6. Yonghui Yao
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Correspondence to Baiping Zhang.

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Foundation

National Scientific and Technological Basic Resources Investigation Project, No.2017FY100900

Zhang Xinghang (1992–), PhD Candidate, specialized in mountain geography and ecological environment.

Zhang Baiping (1963–), Professor, specialized in physical geography and applied GIS.

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Zhang, X., Zhang, B., Wang, J. et al. North-south vegetation transition in the eastern Qinling-Daba Mountains. J. Geogr. Sci. 31, 350–368 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-021-1840-1

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