Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities
Understanding how the complexities of biodiversity are maintained on islands has long been one of the central issues studied in conservation biology. With the global onset of anthropogenically driven biodiversity changes, the influence of anthropogenic activities challenges the applicability of the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Basic and Applied Ecology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179123000427 |
| _version_ | 1797660113793712128 |
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| author | Jinliang Liu Tengteng Liu Yuanyuan Zhou Yi Chen Lijing Lu Xinjie Jin Renyong Hu Yongpu Zhang Yonghua Zhang |
| author_facet | Jinliang Liu Tengteng Liu Yuanyuan Zhou Yi Chen Lijing Lu Xinjie Jin Renyong Hu Yongpu Zhang Yonghua Zhang |
| author_sort | Jinliang Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding how the complexities of biodiversity are maintained on islands has long been one of the central issues studied in conservation biology. With the global onset of anthropogenically driven biodiversity changes, the influence of anthropogenic activities challenges the applicability of the widely accepted Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography (ETIB). This study aimed to test how island area, isolation (MD: distance to the mainland, and ND: distance to the nearest island), and human activities (habitat heterogeneity, and proportion of road area relative to island area to refer to the human impact on island) separately and jointly affect the species diversity of vascular plants. The number of plant species with different growth forms (woody plants, herbs, and lianas) was calculated on 35 islands in Sanyang Wetland, which is a human-dominated wetland near the highly populated city of Wenzhou, China. We also evaluated the relative importance of these variables on the number of species using a random forest analysis. The number of species increased with increasing island area and habitat heterogeneity and decreased with increasing isolation for different growth forms. A significant, positive relationship was observed between the number of species and the proportion of road area for herbs, but not for woody plants and lianas. Habitat heterogeneity was the most important predictor for all plants, the proportion of road area was the most important predictor for herbs, and MD was the most important predictor for woody plants and lianas. These results indicate that ETIB remains relevant in the context of human disturbance, but the relative importance of ecological processes on species diversity differs significantly among plant growth forms. Therefore, we should consider plant functional groups when testing multifactorial effects on species diversity on human-dominated islands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:25:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-726ed941617f4037970d2136fa4ea546 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1439-1791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:25:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Basic and Applied Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-726ed941617f4037970d2136fa4ea5462023-10-14T04:44:20ZengElsevierBasic and Applied Ecology1439-17912023-11-01724553Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activitiesJinliang Liu0Tengteng Liu1Yuanyuan Zhou2Yi Chen3Lijing Lu4Xinjie Jin5Renyong Hu6Yongpu Zhang7Yonghua Zhang8College of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Institute for Eco-environmental Research of Sanyang Wetland, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaWenzhou Ecological Park, Wenzhou 325000, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaWenzhou Ecological Park, Wenzhou 325000, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Institute for Eco-environmental Research of Sanyang Wetland, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Institute for Eco-environmental Research of Sanyang Wetland, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, ChinaCollege of Life and Environmental Science, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Institute for Eco-environmental Research of Sanyang Wetland, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China; Corresponding author.Understanding how the complexities of biodiversity are maintained on islands has long been one of the central issues studied in conservation biology. With the global onset of anthropogenically driven biodiversity changes, the influence of anthropogenic activities challenges the applicability of the widely accepted Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography (ETIB). This study aimed to test how island area, isolation (MD: distance to the mainland, and ND: distance to the nearest island), and human activities (habitat heterogeneity, and proportion of road area relative to island area to refer to the human impact on island) separately and jointly affect the species diversity of vascular plants. The number of plant species with different growth forms (woody plants, herbs, and lianas) was calculated on 35 islands in Sanyang Wetland, which is a human-dominated wetland near the highly populated city of Wenzhou, China. We also evaluated the relative importance of these variables on the number of species using a random forest analysis. The number of species increased with increasing island area and habitat heterogeneity and decreased with increasing isolation for different growth forms. A significant, positive relationship was observed between the number of species and the proportion of road area for herbs, but not for woody plants and lianas. Habitat heterogeneity was the most important predictor for all plants, the proportion of road area was the most important predictor for herbs, and MD was the most important predictor for woody plants and lianas. These results indicate that ETIB remains relevant in the context of human disturbance, but the relative importance of ecological processes on species diversity differs significantly among plant growth forms. Therefore, we should consider plant functional groups when testing multifactorial effects on species diversity on human-dominated islands.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179123000427Growth formsPlant functional typesIsland biogeographyHuman disturbanceHabitat diversityBiodiversity |
| spellingShingle | Jinliang Liu Tengteng Liu Yuanyuan Zhou Yi Chen Lijing Lu Xinjie Jin Renyong Hu Yongpu Zhang Yonghua Zhang Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities Basic and Applied Ecology Growth forms Plant functional types Island biogeography Human disturbance Habitat diversity Biodiversity |
| title | Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| title_full | Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| title_fullStr | Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| title_short | Plant diversity on islands in the Anthropocene: Integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| title_sort | plant diversity on islands in the anthropocene integrating the effects of the theory of island biogeography and human activities |
| topic | Growth forms Plant functional types Island biogeography Human disturbance Habitat diversity Biodiversity |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179123000427 |
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