Relationships between Plant and Animal Species Richness at a Regional Scale in China

Abstract:  Important questions in conservation biology and ecology include whether species diversities of different groups of organisms are correlated and, in particular, whether plant diversity influences animal diversity. I used correlation and partial regression analyses to examine the relationships between species richness of vascular plants and four major groups of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds) in 28 provinces in China. Species richness data were obtained from the literature. Environmental variables included normalized difference vegetation index, mean January temperature, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, May through August precipitation, actual evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, and elevation range. Species richness was strongly and positively correlated among the five groups of organisms. Plant richness was correlated with animal richness more strongly than the richness of different animal groups correlated with each other except for reptile richness, which had a slightly higher correlation with amphibian richness than with plant richness. Plant richness uniquely explained 41 times more variance in the species richness of the four vertebrate groups combined than environmental variables uniquely did, suggesting that plant richness influences terrestrial vertebrate richness at the regional scale examined. Because of strong correlations between the diversity of vascular plants and vertebrates, the diversity of vascular plants may be used as a surrogate for the diversity of terrestrial animals in China. My results have implications for selection of areas to be protected at both regional and local scales.     

若尔盖高寒沼泽植物群落与环境因子的关系

了解高寒沼泽植物群落与环境因子之间的关系,对揭示物种对生态环境的需求以及高寒沼泽的保护管理有重要意义,然而目前尚不清楚影响若尔盖高寒沼泽植物分布的主要环境因素。作者于2011—2012年间在若尔盖高寒沼泽随机调查32个样地,收集了植被样方数据、土壤理化性质数据、地表水位等实测数据,借助方差分析、CCA分析和相关分析等经典的统计方法,研究高寒沼泽植物群落物种组成和不同地表积水状况下多样性的差异,以及高寒沼泽植物群落与环境因子的关系。结果显示：若尔盖高寒沼泽植物共有151个种,隶属于39科98属;多样性指数随地表积水的减少呈现出增加的趋势。典范对应分析（CCA）结果表明,第一轴与水位、土壤水分含量、土壤有机碳、土壤总氮显著负相关,与土壤容重显著正相关,第二轴与裸斑率和鼠洞数显著相关。前2个轴一共解释了79．8％的物种与环境因子的关系,与环境因子的相关系数均在0．87以上;其中,水分和土壤养分条件是影响物种分布的主导因子,其次是裸斑面及啮齿动物活动。植物多样性指数与土壤水分负相关,与土壤有机碳和土壤全氮显著负相关,与土壤容重显著正相关。若尔盖沼泽植物群落物种多样性除了受土壤水分和养分条件的影响以外,啮齿动物的活动可能是影响若尔盖沼泽物种分布以及促进群落进一步演替的主要因素之一。