Abstract
Elucidating the major drivers of bryophyte distribution is the first step to protecting bryophyte diversity. Topography, forest, substrates (ground, tree trunks, roots, rocks, and rotten wood), and spatial factor, which factors are the major drivers of bryophyte distribution? In this study, 53 plots were set in 400 m2 along the elevation gradient in Xiaoqinling, China. All bryophytes in the plots were collected and identified. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between bryophyte and substrate diversity. We compared the patterns of overall bryophyte diversity and diversity of bryophytes found on the ground, tree, and rock along elevational gradients. Canonical correspondence analysis was applied to relate species composition to selected environmental variables. The importance of topography, forest, substrates, and spatial factors was determined by variance partitioning. A total of 1378 bryophyte specimens were collected, and 240 species were identified. Bryophyte diversity was closely related to substrate diversity. The overall bryophyte diversity significantly increased with elevation; however, the response varied among ground, tree, and rock bryophytes. Tree diversity and herb layer were considered important environmental factors in determining bryophyte distribution. Species abundance was best explained by stand structure (17%), and species diversity was best explained by stand structure (35%) and substrate (40%). Results directly indicated that substrate diversity can improve bryophyte species diversity. The effects of micro-habitat formed by stand structure and substrate diversity were higher than those of spatial processes and topography factors on bryophyte distribution. This study proved that the determinant factors influencing bryophyte diversity reflect the trends in recent forest management, providing a real opportunity to improve forest biodiversity conservation.
Highlights
Bryophytes are undoubtedly one of the earliest and most diversified groups of land plant, constituting an important part in vegetation diversity (Song et al, 2015)
We focused on three issues: (1) How many bryophyte species exist and the difference of bryophyte diversity among different substrates; (2) What is the distribution pattern of bryophyte diversity along elevational gradients and the differences in the patterns of bryophytes among different substrates; (3) Topography, forest, substrates, and spatial factor, which factors are the major drivers of bryophyte distribution and the conservation implications for forest management in the forest ecosystem?
Based on the 1378 bryophyte specimens collected in 53 plots, a total of 240 bryophyte species were collected, which belong to 33 families and 89 genera (Supplementary Table S1)
Summary
Bryophytes are undoubtedly one of the earliest and most diversified groups of land plant, constituting an important part in vegetation diversity (Song et al, 2015). Most of the studies concluded that the coexistence of vascular plants is the joint result of niche and neutral theories (Jia et al, 2015; Chen et al, 2016). Assuming that dispersal is limited in space (Hubbell, 2001), and environmental heterogeneity has been well sampled (Yuan et al, 2011), the existence of spatially structured variations of bryophyte distribution independent of the environmental fraction can indicate the importance of dispersal processes. The studies on the relative importance of environmental heterogeneity and spatially structured processes in explaining bryophyte distribution are relatively few. Some ecologists conducted a few positive exploration (Mota de Oliveira et al, 2009; Silva et al, 2014; Smith and Stark, 2014), the major drivers of bryophyte distribution remain unclear
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