Abstract
The mechanisms underlying elevation patterns in species and phylogenetic diversity remain a central issue in ecology and are vital for effective biodiversity conservation in the mountains. Gongga Mountain, located in the southeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, represents one of the longest elevational gradients (ca. 6,500 m, from ca. 1,000 to 7,556 m) in the world for studying species diversity patterns. However, the elevational gradient and conservation of plant species diversity and phylogenetic diversity in this mountain remain poorly studied. Here, we compiled the elevational distributions of 2,667 native seed plant species occurring in Gongga Mountain, and estimated the species diversity, phylogenetic diversity, species density, and phylogenetic relatedness across ten elevation belts and five vegetation zones. The results indicated that species diversity and phylogenetic diversity of all seed plants showed a hump‐shaped pattern, peaking at 1,800–2,200 m. Species diversity was significantly correlated with phylogenetic diversity and species density. The floras in temperate coniferous broad‐leaved mixed forests, subalpine coniferous forests, and alpine shrublands and meadows were significantly phylogenetically clustered, whereas the floras in evergreen broad‐leaved forests had phylogenetically random structure. Both climate and human pressure had strong correlation with species diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic structure of seed plants. Our results suggest that the evergreen broad‐leaved forests and coniferous broad‐leaved mixed forests at low to mid elevations deserve more conservation efforts. This study improves our understanding on the elevational gradients of species and phylogenetic diversity and their determinants and provides support for improvement of seed plant conservation in Gongga Mountain.
Highlights
Understanding elevational gradients in species and phylogenetic diversity provides important insights for the development of a general theory on species diversity patterns (Lomolino, 2001), but is vital for effective biodiversity conservation in the mountains, and remains a central issue in ecology (Bhattarai & Vetaas, 2003; Cardinale et al, 2012)
Phylogenetic information has been used in ecology and biogeography at very large scales to detect the nonrandom distribution of lineages in relation to spatial and environmental gradients (Devictor et al, 2010) and to prioritize conservation of species assemblages that have a distinct evolutionary history relative to others in the region (Gonzálezcaro, Umaña, Álvarez, Stevenson, & Swenson, 2014)
Both species and phylogenetic diversity have drawn strong attention from ecologists, and comparing the patterns of species and phylogenetic diversity is essential to understand the evolutionary mechanisms of species diversity patterns
Summary
Understanding elevational gradients in species and phylogenetic diversity provides important insights for the development of a general theory on species diversity patterns (Lomolino, 2001), but is vital for effective biodiversity conservation in the mountains, and remains a central issue in ecology (Bhattarai & Vetaas, 2003; Cardinale et al, 2012). Recent studies suggest that more than 33.2 million km or 85.7% of mountainous areas globally (outside Antarctica) are under influences induced by human activities (David & Bomhard, 2012) These findings suggest that biodiversity in mountains is facing increasingly heavy anthropogenic disturbances and threats (Nogués‐Bravo, Araújo, Romdal, & Rahbek, 2008; Wang, Fang, Tang, & Lin, 2011; White & Kerr, 2007).
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