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The effects of dispersal limitation and topographic heterogeneity on beta diversity and phylobetadiversity in a subtropical forest

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Abstract

We assessed the effects of topographic heterogeneity and stem density on species composition between grains of different sizes (20 × 20, 50 × 50, and 100 × 100 m), based on partial Mantel tests. Similarity in species composition was measured by the abundance-based Jaccard index (C_J) and by an index that incorporates phylogenetic information into C_J (pC_J). Plants were divided into five groups, arbor, subarbor, and shrub according to life form and two other groups: species that produce dry fruits (PDF) and that produce fleshy fruits (PFF). C_J and pC_J between any two grains at each grain size were calculated separately for these groups and for all species combined. In order to examine what influences C_J and pC_J, we analyzed their correlations with topographic heterogeneity variables and two dispersal limitation-related variables (stem and topographic resistance). Our data indicate that at all three grain sizes, C_J and pC_J decrease with increasing distance for all plant groups. Dispersal limitation and topographic heterogeneity were both important at 20 × 20 and 50 × 50 m grain sizes for C_J and pC_J of all plant groups; and at 100 × 100 m grain size, topographic heterogeneity dominates over dispersal limitation for some plant groups. C_J and pC_J of PDFs are less negatively correlated with stem resistance than those of PFFs. We conclude that both beta diversity and phylobetadiversity are dependent on plant groups and grain sizes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank many individuals who contributed to the field survey of the plot. This study was funded by the Knowledge Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX-YW-430-03), the National Key Technology R&D Program (2008BAC39B02), and “11th Five-Year” plan on National Scientific and Technological Support Projects (2008BADB0B05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China

    Yue Bin, Zhangming Wang, Wanhui Ye, Honglin Cao & Juyu Lian

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China

    Yue Bin

  3. Department of Life Sciences, Anqing Teachers College, Anqing, 246011, China

    Zhigao Wang

Authors
  1. Yue Bin
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  2. Zhigao Wang
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  3. Zhangming Wang
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  4. Wanhui Ye
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  5. Honglin Cao
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  6. Juyu Lian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wanhui Ye.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 1.

Table 1 Classifications of the species analyzed in this study
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Appendix 2

See Table 2.

Table 2 Results of partial Mantel tests on correlation coefficients between similarity indices (C_J and pC_J) and stem resistance (Rstem), topographic resistance (Rtopo), aspect (Da), convexity (Dc), elevation (De), and slope (Ds) for different plant groups at different grain sizes
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Bin, Y., Wang, Z., Wang, Z. et al. The effects of dispersal limitation and topographic heterogeneity on beta diversity and phylobetadiversity in a subtropical forest. Plant Ecol 209, 237–256 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9708-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-009-9708-y

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