Effects of area, temperature and geometric constraints on elevational patterns of species richness: a case study in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains, China

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00362

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Recent studies have illustrated that area, climate and geometric constraints were the main determinants of elevational patterns of species richness; however, the relative importance of these factors is unknown because these factors co-vary with elevation. Based on these factors, the power law species-area relationship (SAR), the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) and the mid-domain effect hypothesis (MDE) have been proposed to explain elevational patterns of species richness. Our objective is to compare the relative performance of SAR, MTE and MDE in shaping elevational patterns of species richness, using vegetation and climatic data from Mt. Taibai, Qinling Mountains as a case study.
Methods We used a database, “Distribution of Plants in Mt. Taibai”, composed of 2 132 plant species, to derive species richness values for different plant groups. A digital elevation model was used to calculate the area of each elevational band. Eighteen data loggers were set along south and north slopes and at different elevations to record air temperature. RangeModel software was applied to predict species richness of each elevational band, based on the MDE hypothesis. We then compared the explanatory strengths of SAR, MTE and MDE models and used variation partition and stepwise regression to assess their relative importance in shaping elevational patterns of species richness.
Important findings Plant species richness followed a unimodal pattern; however, species richness of each plant group peaked at a different elevational band. As single predictors, SAR, MTE, and MDE explained 66.4%, 19.8% and 37.9% of the variation in species richness, respectively. Together they explained 84.6% of the variation. When the confounding effects of all other factors were eliminated, SAR and MTE explained most (25.5% and 17.7%), whereas MDE played a minor role. Furthermore, we found differences among taxonomic groups: the elevational pattern of lichen richness was primarily explained by MDE, that of ferns was jointly controlled by all three mechanisms and that of seed plants was mainly controlled by SAR and MTE.

Key words: elevational pattern, metabolic theory of ecology, mid-domain effect, species-area relationship, species richness

CHI Xiu-Lian, TANG Zhi-Yao. Effects of area, temperature and geometric constraints on elevational patterns of species richness: a case study in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains, China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2011, 35(4): 362-370.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00362

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2011/V35/I4/362

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Variation of area (solid line) and air temperature (dash line) along the elevational gradient in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains.

Fig. 2 Relative contributions of three hypotheses in explaining species richness patterns; a, b and c represent independent effects of species-area relationship (SAR), metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) and mid-domain effect (MDE); d, e and f represent the joint effects of SAR-MTE, SAR-MDE, and MTE-MDE, and g represents joint effect of the three, respectively.

Fig. 3 Elevational patterns of species richness for different plant groups in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains. In each subset figure, dot represents observed richness, solid line represents predicted richness by RangeModel based on mid-domain effect, dashed lines represent the interval of predicted richness with 95% confidential.

Table 1 Explanatory strengths of different hypotheses for the elevational patterns of plant richness in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains (R2%)

类群 Group	种-面积关系 Species-area relationship	生态学代谢理论 Metabolic theory of ecology	中域效应假说 Mid-domain effect hypothesis
所有植物 Overall plants	66.4	19.8	37.9
苔藓植物 Lichens	57.3	2.3	69.5
蕨类植物 Ferns	66.3	13.5	67.7
种子植物 Seed plants	58.3	26.9	32.3

Fig. 4 Relative importance of different hypotheses in explaining elevational patterns of plant species richness in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains. In the subsets, the diameters of the circles represent total variance explained by the specific hypothesis, a, b and c represent independent effects species-area relationship (SAR), metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) and mid-domain effect (MDE); d, e and f represent the joint effects of SAR-MTE, SAR-MDE, and MTE-MDE; g represents joint effect of the three; and U represents unexplained, respectively.

Table 2 Optimal linear model for the elevational patterns of species richness and different factors in the Mountain Taibai, Qinling Mountains

丰富度 Richness	变量 Variable	AIC	累积R² Cumulative R²
所有植物 Overall plants	logA	48.9	66.4
	1/kT	24.7	84.5
苔藓植物 Lichens	logPR	118.1	69.5
蕨类植物 Ferns	logPR	119.6	67.7
	1/kT	107.0	78.9
	logA	95.3	85.9
种子植物 Seed plants	logA	54.0	58.3
	1/kT	24.9	83.3

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