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Woody and Herbaceous Plants of Inner Asia: Species Richness and Ecogeorgraphic Patterns

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Contemporary Problems of Ecology Aims and scope

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Abstract

The diversity of vascular plants in Inner Asia has been researched; the main environmental factors determining the distribution of species belonging to various life forms and having different distribution range sizes have been identified. The key factors determining species diversity in Inner Asia are past climate changes and precipitation parameters. By contrast, the temperature conditions of the current climate do not affect the species richness significantly. The following current climatic parameters are important for woody plants: precipitation seasonality, mean precipitation in winter and spring, and diurnal range of temperature. Quite the opposite, the species richness of herbaceous plants is determined by climate-change velocity from the mid-Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum, the spatial heterogeneity of precipitation, and mean summer temperatures. Over time, distribution ranges of rare plants in the studied region may be reduced due to the increasing aridization.

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  • 20 October 2020

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Funding

This study was partially performed as part of the state assignment, project no. AAAA-A17-117011810036-3, and supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-54-53014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 670047, Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, Russia

    D. V. Sandanov

  2. Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China

    Y. Liu & Z. Wang

  3. Central Siberian Botanical Garden, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090, Novosibirsk, Russia

    A. Yu. Korolyuk

Authors
  1. D. V. Sandanov
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  2. Y. Liu
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  4. A. Yu. Korolyuk
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Correspondence to D. V. Sandanov, Y. Liu, Z. Wang or A. Yu. Korolyuk.

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Translated by L. Emeliyanov

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Sandanov, D.V., Liu, Y., Wang, Z. et al. Woody and Herbaceous Plants of Inner Asia: Species Richness and Ecogeorgraphic Patterns. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 13, 360–369 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425520040101

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