Environmental drivers of herbaceous plant diversity in the understory community of a warm-temperate forest  

作　　者：Tingting Deng Qingqing Du Yan Zhu Simon A.Queenborough 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,20 Nanxincun,Xiangshan,Beijing 100093,China [2]Yale School of the Environment,Yale University,New Haven,CT 06511,USA

出　　处：《Plant Diversity》2025年第2期282-290,共9页植物多样性(英文版)

基　　金：financially supported by the NSF of China(32271614;31870408);Biological Resources Programme,Chinese Academy of Sciences;State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change of China(Y7206F1016);the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB31030000);National key basic R&D program of China(2017YFA0605100).

摘　　要：Herbaceous plants are an essential component of forest diversity and driver of ecosystem processes.However,because the growth forms and life-history strategies of herbaceous plants differ from those of woody plants,it is unclear whether the mechanisms that drive patterns plant diversity and community structure in these two plant groups are the same.In this study,we determined whether herb and woody plant communities have similar patterns and drivers of alpha-and beta-diversity.We compared species richness,distribution,and abundance of herbs to woody seedlings in a 20-ha Donglingshan warmtemperate forest(Donglingshan FDP),China.We also determined whether variation in patterns of species richness and composition are better explained by environmental or spatial variables.Herbaceous plants accounted for 72%of all species(81 herbaceous,31 woody)recorded.Alpha-and beta-diversity were higher in herbs than in woody seedlings.Although alpha-diversity of herbs and woody seedlings was not correlated across the site,the local-site contributions to beta-diversity for herbs and woody seedlings were negatively correlated.Habitat type explained slightly more variation in herb community composition than in woody seedling composition,with the highest diversity in the low-elevation slope.Environmental variables explained the variation in species richness and composition more in herbaceous plants than in woody seedlings.Our results indicate that different mechanisms drive variation in the herb and woody seedling communities,with herbs exhibiting greater environmental sensitivity and habitat dependence.These findings contribute to the better understanding of herbaceous plant diversity and composition in forest communities.

关 键 词：Donglingshan FDP HERBS Woody species diversity Environmental filtering Habitat associations 

分 类 号：Q94[生物学—植物学]