The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest
“Interspecific associations” refers to the interrelationship among different species in a particular spatial distribution, which plays an important role in species distribution, community assembly, and responses to environmental changes. However, the strength and/or direction of interspecific associ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/8/1334 |
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| author | Changchun Jiang Jiaqin Fu Yunquan Wang Pengtao Chai Yidan Yang Xiangcheng Mi Mingjian Yu Keping Ma Jianhua Chen |
| author_facet | Changchun Jiang Jiaqin Fu Yunquan Wang Pengtao Chai Yidan Yang Xiangcheng Mi Mingjian Yu Keping Ma Jianhua Chen |
| author_sort | Changchun Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | “Interspecific associations” refers to the interrelationship among different species in a particular spatial distribution, which plays an important role in species distribution, community assembly, and responses to environmental changes. However, the strength and/or direction of interspecific associations may vary with environmental gradients and scales. To understand the effects of habitat types and research scales on interspecific associations in subtropical forests, we modeled the interspecific associations for more than 15,000 individuals representing 74 co-occurring species from three habitat types and three scales by using the variance ratio and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. We found that overall interspecific associations at a community level exhibited significant positive associations for most habitat types and scales. Moreover, interspecific associations of pairwise species have strong habitat dependence, and the association strengths decreased with the increase in elevation (change in habitat types). However, the scale dependence of pairwise interspecific associations varies with habitat types. The strength of interspecific associations increased with the increasing scales (10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, and 40 m × 40 m) at low-valleys and mid-hillside habitats, while the scale-dependent effect was not detected at high-ridges. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of environmental gradients and research scales on interspecific associations in diverse subtropical forests, and environmental gradients and research scales should be considered in future studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:25:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53b3200083de45419d7b0f79445cbbc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:25:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-53b3200083de45419d7b0f79445cbbc02023-12-03T13:41:16ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072022-08-01138133410.3390/f13081334The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved ForestChangchun Jiang0Jiaqin Fu1Yunquan Wang2Pengtao Chai3Yidan Yang4Xiangcheng Mi5Mingjian Yu6Keping Ma7Jianhua Chen8College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology for Endangered Wildlife, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, ChinaCollege of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China“Interspecific associations” refers to the interrelationship among different species in a particular spatial distribution, which plays an important role in species distribution, community assembly, and responses to environmental changes. However, the strength and/or direction of interspecific associations may vary with environmental gradients and scales. To understand the effects of habitat types and research scales on interspecific associations in subtropical forests, we modeled the interspecific associations for more than 15,000 individuals representing 74 co-occurring species from three habitat types and three scales by using the variance ratio and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. We found that overall interspecific associations at a community level exhibited significant positive associations for most habitat types and scales. Moreover, interspecific associations of pairwise species have strong habitat dependence, and the association strengths decreased with the increase in elevation (change in habitat types). However, the scale dependence of pairwise interspecific associations varies with habitat types. The strength of interspecific associations increased with the increasing scales (10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, and 40 m × 40 m) at low-valleys and mid-hillside habitats, while the scale-dependent effect was not detected at high-ridges. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of environmental gradients and research scales on interspecific associations in diverse subtropical forests, and environmental gradients and research scales should be considered in future studies.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/8/1334interspecific associationshabitat dependencesscale dependencesinterspecific correlationssubtropical forests |
| spellingShingle | Changchun Jiang Jiaqin Fu Yunquan Wang Pengtao Chai Yidan Yang Xiangcheng Mi Mingjian Yu Keping Ma Jianhua Chen The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest Forests interspecific associations habitat dependences scale dependences interspecific correlations subtropical forests |
| title | The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest |
| title_full | The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest |
| title_fullStr | The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest |
| title_short | The Habitat Type and Scale Dependences of Interspecific Associations in a Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest |
| title_sort | habitat type and scale dependences of interspecific associations in a subtropical evergreen broad leaved forest |
| topic | interspecific associations habitat dependences scale dependences interspecific correlations subtropical forests |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/8/1334 |
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