Mismatch Between Specific and Genetic Diversity in an Evergreen Broadleaf Forest in Southeast China: A Study Case of 10.24 ha Forest Dynamics Plot of Huangshan.

Lei Xie,Jun Wu,Shuifei Chen,Hui Ding,Yanming Fang,Yao Li,Liheng He,Liqun Huang,Ke Guo,Yueyao Feng,Lu Wang

doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.706006

Abstract

For a long time, forestry management has often focused on the protection of species diversity, and mistakenly believed that protecting species diversity protects genetic diversity. Therefore, research that integrates community ecology and population genetics has become important because it can help elucidate whether the targets for protecting specific and genetic diversity are congruent. In this study, we have emphasized the impact of the community on the population because no previous studies have considered the community composition of a place a priori. Based on the Huangshan 10.24 ha dynamics forest plot, we a priori considered the community composition in the plot to test species-genetic diversity among the tree layers. Firstly, a redundancy analysis (RDA) found that Castanopsis eyrei and Pinus massoniana were the dominant species. Secondly, specific and genetic diversity are not congruent in Huang Shan. Finally, the structural equation model (SEM) showed that the different degrees of response by community composition and population structure to environmental heterogeneity are the main reasons for the mismatch between species diversity and genetic diversity. The results suggest that we must focus on genetic diversity, as well as on protecting species diversity.

Highlights

Biodiversity is fundamentally altered by some human activities such as overuse of land, hunting and CO2 emissions, and these processes have led to a continuous decline in biodiversity (Blowes et al, 2019)
Based on a large sample size and 30 loci, we showed that topography and soil properties had different influences on community assembly and genetic structure
Our findings revealed that SD and GD respond to topography and soil properties differently, which means that species diversity is not congruent with genetic diversity

Summary

Introduction

Biodiversity is fundamentally altered by some human activities such as overuse of land, hunting and CO2 emissions, and these processes have led to a continuous decline in biodiversity (Blowes et al, 2019). The main method used to delay the decline in biodiversity is to establish nature reserves in threatened forest ecosystems (Yang et al, 2019a), but in the future, the red list of Species and Genetic Mismatch ecosystems should be adopted when designating protected areas where biodiversity processes and higher-level components can be maintained (Chen et al, 2020). Mutation, selection, migration, and drift directly affect genetic variation and population genetic structure changes, and indirectly affect genetic diversity (Ellegren and Galtier, 2016; Zhang et al, 2018; Li et al, 2019). Environmental heterogeneity directly influences the processes and functions of the ecosystem, and indirectly influences the population structure and community composition by affecting plant physiology, biochemistry, morphology, and behavior (Suding et al, 2008). The protection of SD has been researched for a long time under the misunderstanding that to protect SD is to protect GD (Taberlet et al, 2012)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion