Distribution and influencing factors of woody plant sexual systems along elevational gradient on the south slope of Daiyun Mountain

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2024.0457

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Plant sexual systems are important reproductive characteristics that affects plant mating, genetics, evolution, and species distribution. They are classified into three main categories based on the floral organ’s pistil and stamen arrangement: hermaphroditism, dioecy, and monoecy.

Methods We divided forest communities on the south slope of Daiyun Mountain (Fujian Province, China) into eight elevations along the elevational range of 900-1 600 m. Then we analyzed changes in the quantitative characteristics of woody plant sexual systems and investigated their correlation with environmental factors via Mantel correlation analysis.

Important findings The study area encompassed 85 woody plant species, with 47 (55.3%) hermaphroditic, 29 (34.1%) dioecious, and 9 (10.6%) monoecious species. With increasing elevation, the number of individuals and species diversity of dioecious plants show a “unimodal” pattern. The number of monoecious individuals first decreases and then increases, while the species diversity of monoecious plants significantly decreases. The number and species proportion of hermaphroditic plants show no significant changes. The Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou evenness index for sexual systems generally decreased with elevation, whereas the Simpson dominance index remained stable. Effective phosphorus and soil temperature were the primary drivers of elevational changes in sexual systems. In conclusion, the quantitative characteristics of the sexual systems of woody plants along elevational gradient on the south slope of Daiyun Mountain showed significant differences, and the elevational distribution of the sexual systems was highly sensitive to environmental changes, indicating that plants adapt to environmental changes by regulating the composition of their reproductive systems, thereby ensuring the continuous survival and reproduction of their populations.

Key words: Daiyun Mountain, elevational gradient, sexual system, quantitative characteristic, environmental factor

WEI Xin, JIANG Lan, ZHENG Chen-Cheng, ZHU Jing, CHEN Bo, LI Wen-Zhou, LAI Shu-Yu, LIU Jin-Fu, HE Zhong-Sheng. Distribution and influencing factors of woody plant sexual systems along elevational gradient on the south slope of Daiyun Mountain[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2026, 50(1): 150-159.

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Figures/Tables 7

References 42

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性系统 Sexual system	植株数 No. of individuals	比例 Proportion (%)	物种数 No. of species	比例 Proportion (%)
两性花 Hermaphroditism	2 599	44.3	47	55.3
雌雄异株 Dioecy	1 619	27.6	29	34.1
雌雄同株 Monoecy	1 652	28.1	9	10.6
总计 Total	5 870	100.0	85	100.0

性系统 Sexual system	植株数 No. of individuals	比例 Proportion (%)	物种数 No. of species	比例 Proportion (%)
两性花 Hermaphroditism	2 599	44.3	47	55.3
雌雄异株 Dioecy	1 619	27.6	29	34.1
雌雄同株 Monoecy	1 652	28.1	9	10.6
总计 Total	5 870	100.0	85	100.0

森林群落 Plant community	物种数 No. of species	不同性系统物种比例 Proportion of different sexual systems of total number of species (%)
森林群落 Plant community	物种数 No. of species	两性花 Hermaphroditism	雌雄异株 Dioecy	雌雄同株 Monoecy
委内瑞拉巴尔加斯州热带森林 Tropical forest of Vargas State, Venezuela (Ramírez, 2022)	144	72.9	4.2	22.9
澳大利亚热带雨林 Tropical rainforest of Australia (Gross, 2005)	1 100	60.5	17.0	22.5
中国云南西双版纳热带雨林 Tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China (Chen & Li, 2008a)	685	60.6	25.1	14.3
中国海南尖峰岭热带雨林 Tropical rainforest in Jianfengling, Hainan, China (Wang et al., 2019)	290	60.0	21.5	17.7
中国云南哀牢山亚热带森林 Subtropical Forest of Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, China (Chen & Li, 2008b)	703	60.2	24.0	15.8
中国河南白云山温带森林 Temperate Forest of Baiyun Mountain, Henan, China (Zhang et al., 2021)	93	58.1	20.4	21.5
中国吉林长白山温度森林 Temperate Forest of Changbai Mountain, Jilin, China (Wang et al., 2017)	206	51.9	18.5	29.6
中国福建戴云山亚热带森林 Subtropical Forest of Daiyun Mountain, Fujian, China	85	55.3	34.1	10.6

森林群落 Plant community	物种数 No. of species	不同性系统物种比例 Proportion of different sexual systems of total number of species (%)
森林群落 Plant community	物种数 No. of species	两性花 Hermaphroditism	雌雄异株 Dioecy	雌雄同株 Monoecy
委内瑞拉巴尔加斯州热带森林 Tropical forest of Vargas State, Venezuela (Ramírez, 2022)	144	72.9	4.2	22.9
澳大利亚热带雨林 Tropical rainforest of Australia (Gross, 2005)	1 100	60.5	17.0	22.5
中国云南西双版纳热带雨林 Tropical rainforest of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China (Chen & Li, 2008a)	685	60.6	25.1	14.3
中国海南尖峰岭热带雨林 Tropical rainforest in Jianfengling, Hainan, China (Wang et al., 2019)	290	60.0	21.5	17.7
中国云南哀牢山亚热带森林 Subtropical Forest of Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, China (Chen & Li, 2008b)	703	60.2	24.0	15.8
中国河南白云山温带森林 Temperate Forest of Baiyun Mountain, Henan, China (Zhang et al., 2021)	93	58.1	20.4	21.5
中国吉林长白山温度森林 Temperate Forest of Changbai Mountain, Jilin, China (Wang et al., 2017)	206	51.9	18.5	29.6
中国福建戴云山亚热带森林 Subtropical Forest of Daiyun Mountain, Fujian, China	85	55.3	34.1	10.6

性系统 Sexual system	物种 Species	相对多度 Relative abundance	相对显著度 Relative prominence	相对频度 Relative frequency	重要值 Importance value	海拔 Elevation (m)
两性花 Hermaphroditism	丁香杜鹃 Rhododendron farrerae	0.12	0.02	0.04	5.94	900-1 000, 1 200-1 600
	杜鹃 Rhododendron simsii	0.09	0.01	0.03	4.61	1 000, 1 300-1 600
	大萼杨桐 Adinandra glischroloma var. macrosepala	0.05	0.03	0.04	3.86	1 000-1 600
	红楠 Machilus thunbergii	0.01	0.07	0.03	3.44	1 100-1 600
	杨桐 Adinandra millettii	0.04	0.01	0.04	2.95	900-1 600
雌雄异株 Dioecy	窄基红褐柃 Eurya rubiginosa var. attenuata	0.14	0.03	0.03	6.62	1 200-1 600
雌雄异株 Dioecy	岩柃 Eurya saxicola	0.05	0.01	0.03	2.82	1 300-1 600
雌雄同株 Monoecy	黄山松 Pinus hwangshanensi	0.09	0.36	0.03	15.74	1 300-1 600
	杉木 Cunninghamia lanceolata	0.06	0.22	0.03	10.39	900-1 200
	青冈 Quercus glauca	0.11	0.07	0.04	7.08	900-1 400
	马尾松 Pinus massoniana	0.01	0.06	0.02	2.94	900-1 100, 1 500