Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China
Species diversity has been shown to be influenced by environmental factors, but the mechanism underlying their relationship remains unclear across spatial scales. Based on field investigation data collected from 3077 sample plots in temperate forest ecosystems, we compared tree species richness, eve...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1241 |
| _version_ | 1797594765083017216 |
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| author | Yue Gu Junhui Zhang Wang Ma Yue Feng Leilei Yang Zhuo Li Yanshuang Guo Guoqiang Shi Shijie Han |
| author_facet | Yue Gu Junhui Zhang Wang Ma Yue Feng Leilei Yang Zhuo Li Yanshuang Guo Guoqiang Shi Shijie Han |
| author_sort | Yue Gu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Species diversity has been shown to be influenced by environmental factors, but the mechanism underlying their relationship remains unclear across spatial scales. Based on field investigation data collected from 3077 sample plots in temperate forest ecosystems, we compared tree species richness, evenness and dominance at 10 km × 10 km, 30 km × 30 km and 90 km × 90 km spatial scales. Then, we detected the scale dependence of changes in tree species composition on climate, topography and forest structure using variation partitioning and quantified their contribution to tree diversity with gradient–boosted models (GBMs) and fitted their relationships. The magnitude of tree richness, evenness and dominance significantly increased with spatial scale. Ecological factors jointly accounted for 24.3%, 26.5% and 38.5% of the variation in tree species composition at the three spatial scales, respectively. The annual mean temperature had a strong impact on tree richness, evenness and dominance and peaked at an intermediate scale. Tree evenness and dominance increased with the variation of temperature but had upper and lower limits. Tree richness obviously increased with annual precipitation on multiple scales and decreased with annual sunshine duration at large spatial scales. Tree richness, evenness and dominance obviously increased with the variation in elevation and diameter at breast height at large scales and small scales, respectively. Tree dominance decreased with tree height at a small scale. The dependence of tree diversity on ecological factors increased with spatial scales. Furthermore, different factors exert various controls on tree diversity at different spatial scales, representing a comprehensive mechanism regulating tree diversity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:28:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e569d6aab69f415687dbb24462eb8670 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:28:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-e569d6aab69f415687dbb24462eb86702023-11-18T10:28:18ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-06-01146124110.3390/f14061241Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast ChinaYue Gu0Junhui Zhang1Wang Ma2Yue Feng3Leilei Yang4Zhuo Li5Yanshuang Guo6Guoqiang Shi7Shijie Han8School of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Shandong 273165, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Shandong 273165, ChinaErguna Forest–Steppe Ecotone Research Station, CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, ChinaChangbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Erdaobaihe, Yanji 133613, ChinaChangbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Erdaobaihe, Yanji 133613, ChinaChangbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Erdaobaihe, Yanji 133613, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Shandong 273165, ChinaSpecies diversity has been shown to be influenced by environmental factors, but the mechanism underlying their relationship remains unclear across spatial scales. Based on field investigation data collected from 3077 sample plots in temperate forest ecosystems, we compared tree species richness, evenness and dominance at 10 km × 10 km, 30 km × 30 km and 90 km × 90 km spatial scales. Then, we detected the scale dependence of changes in tree species composition on climate, topography and forest structure using variation partitioning and quantified their contribution to tree diversity with gradient–boosted models (GBMs) and fitted their relationships. The magnitude of tree richness, evenness and dominance significantly increased with spatial scale. Ecological factors jointly accounted for 24.3%, 26.5% and 38.5% of the variation in tree species composition at the three spatial scales, respectively. The annual mean temperature had a strong impact on tree richness, evenness and dominance and peaked at an intermediate scale. Tree evenness and dominance increased with the variation of temperature but had upper and lower limits. Tree richness obviously increased with annual precipitation on multiple scales and decreased with annual sunshine duration at large spatial scales. Tree richness, evenness and dominance obviously increased with the variation in elevation and diameter at breast height at large scales and small scales, respectively. Tree dominance decreased with tree height at a small scale. The dependence of tree diversity on ecological factors increased with spatial scales. Furthermore, different factors exert various controls on tree diversity at different spatial scales, representing a comprehensive mechanism regulating tree diversity.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1241biodiversitytree richnessShannon indexSimpson indexecological mechanismclimate |
| spellingShingle | Yue Gu Junhui Zhang Wang Ma Yue Feng Leilei Yang Zhuo Li Yanshuang Guo Guoqiang Shi Shijie Han Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China Forests biodiversity tree richness Shannon index Simpson index ecological mechanism climate |
| title | Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China |
| title_full | Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China |
| title_fullStr | Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China |
| title_short | Ecological Factors Driving Tree Diversity across Spatial Scales in Temperate Forests, Northeast China |
| title_sort | ecological factors driving tree diversity across spatial scales in temperate forests northeast china |
| topic | biodiversity tree richness Shannon index Simpson index ecological mechanism climate |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/6/1241 |
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