Climate, human disturbance and geometric constraints drive the elevational richness pattern of birds in a biodiversity hotspot in southwest China

Pan, Xinyuan1; Liang, Dan1; Zeng, Wei2; Hu, Yiming3; Liang, Jianchao4; Wang, Xinwen5; Robinson, Scott K.6; Luo, Xu2; Liu, Yang1

2019-04

10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00630

Global Ecology and Conservation   影响因子和分区

2351-9894

To improve our understanding of mechanisms underlying biodiversity patterns, and provide insights for conservation biologists, elevational pattern of bird species richness and its causes were studied in the Gaoligong Mountains, China. On the east slope of the southern part of Gaoligong Mountains (24.79 degrees N-26.49 degrees N, 98.65 degrees E-98.93 degrees E), we conducted field surveys of birds at each 300-m band from 700 to 3400 m a.s.l., and for the two bands from 3400 to 4000 m a.s.l., we obtained data from historical records. We obtained climatic recording data from local meteorological stations that were located in our study area and calculated the mean annual temperature and precipitation. We also calculated the Area, MDE (the mid-domain effect), NDVI (the normalized difference vegetation index), habitat heterogeneity and human disturbance for each 300-m band. We then used multiple regression analysis to test the explanatory power of different factors for the elevational richness patterns of overall, endemic, non-endemic, large-ranged, and small-ranged birds. A total of 277 breeding bird species were recorded. We found consistent hump-shaped elevational patterns of species richness with varied peaks for different groups. The richness of endemic birds peaked at higher elevation than non-endemic birds. Although none of the seven factors (Area, MDE, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, NDVI, habitat heterogeneity, and human disturbance) showed consistent explanatory power among different species groups, temperature and human disturbance played important roles in shaping the richness patterns of most bird groups whereas MDE contributed to the richness pattern of large-ranged species. Our results highlight the need to increase conservation effort at the low elevation of this biodiversity hotspot where there is high richness of birds but intensive human land use. Furthermore, more studies are needed in this biodiversity hotspot to clarify the detailed influence of climate change on elevational distributions of birds. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Elevational gradient Gaoligong mountains Human disturbance Spatial factors Climatic factors Landscape composition

SCI

英语

其他

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities[161gpy34]

Biodiversity & Conservation ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Biodiversity Conservation ; Ecology

WOS:000468835000030

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Web of Science

1.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Life Sci, Dept Ecol, State Key Lab Biocontrol, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, Peoples R China
2.Southwest Forestry Univ, Key Lab Conserving Wildlife Small Populat Yunnan, Kunming 650224, Yunnan, Peoples R China
3.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Sch Environm Sci & Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
4.Guangdong Inst Appl Biol Resources, Guangdong Publ Lab Wild Anim Conservat & Utilizat, Guangdong Key Lab Anim Conservat & Resource Utili, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, Peoples R China
5.Lushui Management Bur Gaoligongshan Natl Nat Rese, Lushui 673100, Peoples R China
6.Univ Florida, Florida Museum Nat Hist, Dickinson Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA

Pan, Xinyuan,Liang, Dan,Zeng, Wei,et al. Climate, human disturbance and geometric constraints drive the elevational richness pattern of birds in a biodiversity hotspot in southwest China[J]. Global Ecology and Conservation,2019,18.

Pan, Xinyuan.,Liang, Dan.,Zeng, Wei.,Hu, Yiming.,Liang, Jianchao.,...&Liu, Yang.(2019).Climate, human disturbance and geometric constraints drive the elevational richness pattern of birds in a biodiversity hotspot in southwest China.Global Ecology and Conservation,18.

Pan, Xinyuan,et al."Climate, human disturbance and geometric constraints drive the elevational richness pattern of birds in a biodiversity hotspot in southwest China".Global Ecology and Conservation 18(2019).