Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation
It is well known that species diversity declines with increasing latitude. However, the underlying causes and mechanisms remain ambiguous due to effects of scale, the shape of the species abundance distributions (SAD), the total number of individuals (N) and the spatial aggregation of individuals (A...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23016709 |
| _version_ | 1797362675794051072 |
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| author | Bing Hu Daniel J. McGlinn Xiuhai Zhao Klaus von Gadow Chunyu Zhang |
| author_facet | Bing Hu Daniel J. McGlinn Xiuhai Zhao Klaus von Gadow Chunyu Zhang |
| author_sort | Bing Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It is well known that species diversity declines with increasing latitude. However, the underlying causes and mechanisms remain ambiguous due to effects of scale, the shape of the species abundance distributions (SAD), the total number of individuals (N) and the spatial aggregation of individuals (AGG). In this study, we examine how SAD, N and AGG contribute to the latitudinal richness gradient. Our study is based on a dataset that includes tree, shrub, and herbaceous plants collected from 445 permanent forest plots scattered across an expansive temperate forest region, covering latitudes from 39.71°N to 53.37°N. We compared multiple diversity patterns along the latitude between three life forms (trees, shrubs and herbs) and analyzed the effects of SAD, N and AGG on the latitudinal richness gradient. Our results reveal a general decline in most diversity measures along the latitudinal gradient, with the exception of herbaceous plants. Furthermore, we observed consistent effects of AGG and SAD on the latitudinal richness gradient across all three life forms. Specifically, a decreasing species evenness with increasing latitude led to a reduction in richness, while the simultaneous decrease in spatial aggregation, along with the effects of total number of individuals, collectively contributed to the decline in species richness with increasing latitude. However, the effect of total abundance varies among life forms, with a negligible effect on tree richness, a negative effect on shrub richness, and a significantly positive effect on herbaceous richness. These findings highlight the dependency of the “more-individuals hypothesis” on specific life forms. Our study shows that decomposing species richness into community structure components provides an opportunity for linking specific processes to latitudinal diversity gradients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:09:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb33484d2d5440cfae997add1a797806 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:09:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb33484d2d5440cfae997add1a7978062024-01-08T04:07:11ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2024-01-01158111528Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregationBing Hu0Daniel J. McGlinn1Xiuhai Zhao2Klaus von Gadow3Chunyu Zhang4State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; Research Center of Forest Management Engineering of State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, ChinaBiology Department, College of Charleston, Charleston, South CarolinaState Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; Research Center of Forest Management Engineering of State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, ChinaFaculty of Forestry and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 5, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany; Department of Forest and Wood Science, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7600, South AfricaState Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; Research Center of Forest Management Engineering of State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China; Corresponding author.It is well known that species diversity declines with increasing latitude. However, the underlying causes and mechanisms remain ambiguous due to effects of scale, the shape of the species abundance distributions (SAD), the total number of individuals (N) and the spatial aggregation of individuals (AGG). In this study, we examine how SAD, N and AGG contribute to the latitudinal richness gradient. Our study is based on a dataset that includes tree, shrub, and herbaceous plants collected from 445 permanent forest plots scattered across an expansive temperate forest region, covering latitudes from 39.71°N to 53.37°N. We compared multiple diversity patterns along the latitude between three life forms (trees, shrubs and herbs) and analyzed the effects of SAD, N and AGG on the latitudinal richness gradient. Our results reveal a general decline in most diversity measures along the latitudinal gradient, with the exception of herbaceous plants. Furthermore, we observed consistent effects of AGG and SAD on the latitudinal richness gradient across all three life forms. Specifically, a decreasing species evenness with increasing latitude led to a reduction in richness, while the simultaneous decrease in spatial aggregation, along with the effects of total number of individuals, collectively contributed to the decline in species richness with increasing latitude. However, the effect of total abundance varies among life forms, with a negligible effect on tree richness, a negative effect on shrub richness, and a significantly positive effect on herbaceous richness. These findings highlight the dependency of the “more-individuals hypothesis” on specific life forms. Our study shows that decomposing species richness into community structure components provides an opportunity for linking specific processes to latitudinal diversity gradients.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23016709Latitudinal diversity gradientTemperate forestsMore-individuals hypothesisSpatial clusteringSpecies abundance distributionsPlant growth forms |
| spellingShingle | Bing Hu Daniel J. McGlinn Xiuhai Zhao Klaus von Gadow Chunyu Zhang Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation Ecological Indicators Latitudinal diversity gradient Temperate forests More-individuals hypothesis Spatial clustering Species abundance distributions Plant growth forms |
| title | Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation |
| title_full | Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation |
| title_fullStr | Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation |
| title_short | Latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region: disentangling the effects of evenness, density and aggregation |
| title_sort | latitudinal richness patterns in a temperate forest region disentangling the effects of evenness density and aggregation |
| topic | Latitudinal diversity gradient Temperate forests More-individuals hypothesis Spatial clustering Species abundance distributions Plant growth forms |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X23016709 |
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