Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine...Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine community assembly have not been studied in the karst region of southwest China.In this study,a 25-ha(500 m×500 m)monitoring plot within the subtropical climax forest in the karst region was established and canonical correspondence analysis was used to reveal the effects of topography and soil on the spatial patterns of tree community assembly.Our study suggests that spatial processes dominate species composition and the combined effects of spatial and environmental processes play an important role.Overall interpretation rate increases with enlarging the sampling scale.However,the pattern of variation partitioning was similar in different life stages.Environmental variables significantly affected species composition at different sampling sizes and life histories and had a higher interpretation rate of species composition on larger s ampling sizes.Topographic wetness index was the most important variable to explain species composition of the environmental variables.These results suggest that it is necessary to consider the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors on community assembly to better understand,conserve,and manage subtropical karst forests.展开更多
The quality and aroma of strong-flavor Baijiu are mainly dependent on Daqu,pit mud(PM),and the interaction of both.However,little is known about how their combination patterns affect the microbiome and metabolome of Z...The quality and aroma of strong-flavor Baijiu are mainly dependent on Daqu,pit mud(PM),and the interaction of both.However,little is known about how their combination patterns affect the microbiome and metabolome of Zaopei,especially the metabolic function of rare taxa.Here,an experiment on industrial size was designed to assess the effects of 6 combinations(3 kinds of Daqu×2 kinds of PM)on the composition and assembly of different taxa,as well as the flavor profile.The results showed that Zaopei's microbiota was composed of a few abundant taxa and enormous rare taxa,and rare bacterial and abundant fungal subcommunities were significantly affected by combination patterns.The assembly processes of abundant/rare taxa and bacterial/fungal communities were distinct,and environmental changes mediated the balance between stochastic and deterministic processes in rare bacteria assembly.Furthermore,specific combination patterns improved the flavor quality of Zaopei by enhancing the interspecies interaction,which was closely related to rare taxa,especially rare bacteria.These findings highlighted that rare bacteria might be the keystone in involving community interaction and maintaining metabolic function,which provided a scientific foundation for better understanding and regulating the brewing microbiota from the viewpoint of microbial ecology.展开更多
Background:Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly is helpful for conservation and restoration of communities, particularly those that contain rare and endangered species like Taxus fuana, which are...Background:Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly is helpful for conservation and restoration of communities, particularly those that contain rare and endangered species like Taxus fuana, which are endemic to the Western Himalayas. The niche (limiting similarity) vs. neutral (randomness) assembly of the T.fuana forest community in Gyirong County, Tibet, China, was investigated. The net relatedness index (NRI) was calculated using a phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic characteristics of the community and its relationships with environment were analyzed.Results:The value of the mean NRI at the community level was less than-1.96, indicating that the phylogenetic structure was overdispersed;whereas majority of the NRIs at the tree, shrub, and herb layers were within-1.96 to1.96, indicating random dispersion. Environmental factors accounted for 44.38%, 46.52%, 24.04%, and 14.07%of the variation at the community level, tree, shrub, and herb layer, respectively. The phylogenetic structure at the community level and tree layer were significantly influenced by both topographic and soil factors, while shrub and herb layers tended to be affected by a single environmental factor.Conclusions:Community assembly of the T. fuana forest was simultaneously affected by niche and neutral processes, and their variations were closely related to the environment. Neutral process dominated community assembly in the shrub and herb layers. However, the interaction of limiting similarity and randomness played a dominant role at the community level and tree layer;and contributed to maintenance of biodiversity stability. The synergy of multiple environmental factors had a more obvious influence on community assembly than individual environmental factors, especially at the community level. These findings would help to understand the conservation of rare and endangered tree species, such as T. fuana, in the native community;and highlight the importance of random and non-random processes in assembly and biodiversity maintenance of alpine plant communities.展开更多
Forests undergoing ecological succession following abandonment from agricultural use(i.e.,old fields)are ubiquitous in temperate regions of the U.S.and Europe.Ecological succession in old fields involves changes in ve...Forests undergoing ecological succession following abandonment from agricultural use(i.e.,old fields)are ubiquitous in temperate regions of the U.S.and Europe.Ecological succession in old fields involves changes in vegetation composition influenced by factors such as land-use history,soil conditions,and dispersal limitations.Species’behavioral,morphological,physiological and life-history attributes influence the outcomes of environmental and biotic filters on distribution and abundance.However,many studies have focused on aboveground attributes,while less attention has been placed on belowground species characteristics that influence community assembly and function.In this study,we used a trait-based approach to examine how aboveground plant composition and distribution vary with plant root functional traits(e.g.,mycorrhizal association)that mediate access for nutrients such as nitrogen(N)and phosphorous(P).We inventoried every tree stem(n=11,551)in a 10-ha forested area containing old-field and historical forests and matched every species with root functional traits(n=33)from established databases.We found that land-use history influences community composition and distribution in old-field forests,which also varied with belowground root functional traits.Community composition in old-field forests,which were dominated by Acer saccharum and non-native species,were largely associated with arbuscular mycorrhizae(AM)and higher root nutrient concentrations.On the other hand,community composition in historical forests–largely dominated by Tsuga canadensis–were associated with ectomycorrhiza(EcM)and more variation of root length and depth.These results suggest that changes in aboveground communities have implications for belowground ecosystem services(e.g.,nutrient cycling)which are important to forest ecosystem development.Trait-based approaches can elucidate mechanisms of community assembly,and understanding how traits influence species coexistence and interactions can inform management decisions related to biodiversity conservation and restoration efforts in disturbed or altered forests.展开更多
Background： Species turnover is typically measured by partitioning diversity components into alpha and pairwise beta diversity. However, alpha and beta components cannot express the full spectrum of multiple-site com...Background： Species turnover is typically measured by partitioning diversity components into alpha and pairwise beta diversity. However, alpha and beta components cannot express the full spectrum of multiple-site compositional turnover. To this end, zeta diversity has been proposed as an extended framework to allow complete biodiversity partitioning and to measure multiple-site species turnover. We use a zeta-diversity framework to explore the turnover and potential community assembly processes of an African Montane Forest. Methods： Using a 20 m grid, we explore the species turnover in a 4.55 ha forest plot located in the Garden Route National Park of South Africa, with 47 and 27 canopy and sub-canopy tree species in the regional poo We first calculate how zeta diversity declines and how the probability of retention of species with particular occupancies changes with increasing zeta orders （i.e. the number of sites [grid cells] involved in the calculation）. Using null models with row sums and column sums constrained respectively, we explore whether species turnover is driven by mechanisms of ecological differences （species-specific occupancies） or habitat heterogeneity （site-specific alpha diversity and thus environmental filters）. Results： The decline of zeta diversity with zeta order followed a power law; that is, the probability of retention increased with species occupancies, suggesting common species being more likely to be discovered in extra sites. The null model retaining row sums （species＇ occupancy） of the species-by-site matrix recreated perfectly the decline of zeta diversity, while the null model of habitat heterogeneity （retaining column sums） was rejected. This suggests that mechanisms driving species-specific occupancies （i.e. ecological differences between species） dictate the multi-site species turnover in the community. The spatial patterns of zeta diversity revealed little spatial structuring forces, supporting a fine-grain structure in these southern Cape forests. Conclusions： The framework of zeta diversity revealed mechanisms driving the large discrepancies in the occupancy among species that are behind the species turnover in the African Montane forest plot. Future studies could further link species turnover to spatial distance decay. Environmental filters and temporal turnover from landscape demography could bring a cohesive understanding of community assembly in these unique forest ecosystems.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42071073,31971487)Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2021366)+2 种基金Guangxi Key Research and Development Program (AB17129009)the Hechi Distinguished Expert Program to Fuping Zengthe Guangxi Bagui Scholarship Program to Dejun Li。
文摘Spatial and environmental processes are two ecological processes that have attracted considerable attention in plant community assembly,depending on sampling scale and life history.However,the processes that determine community assembly have not been studied in the karst region of southwest China.In this study,a 25-ha(500 m×500 m)monitoring plot within the subtropical climax forest in the karst region was established and canonical correspondence analysis was used to reveal the effects of topography and soil on the spatial patterns of tree community assembly.Our study suggests that spatial processes dominate species composition and the combined effects of spatial and environmental processes play an important role.Overall interpretation rate increases with enlarging the sampling scale.However,the pattern of variation partitioning was similar in different life stages.Environmental variables significantly affected species composition at different sampling sizes and life histories and had a higher interpretation rate of species composition on larger s ampling sizes.Topographic wetness index was the most important variable to explain species composition of the environmental variables.These results suggest that it is necessary to consider the relative importance of environmental and spatial factors on community assembly to better understand,conserve,and manage subtropical karst forests.
基金supported by the Cooperation Project of Luzhou Laojiao Co.,Ltd.Sichuan University (21H0997)。
文摘The quality and aroma of strong-flavor Baijiu are mainly dependent on Daqu,pit mud(PM),and the interaction of both.However,little is known about how their combination patterns affect the microbiome and metabolome of Zaopei,especially the metabolic function of rare taxa.Here,an experiment on industrial size was designed to assess the effects of 6 combinations(3 kinds of Daqu×2 kinds of PM)on the composition and assembly of different taxa,as well as the flavor profile.The results showed that Zaopei's microbiota was composed of a few abundant taxa and enormous rare taxa,and rare bacterial and abundant fungal subcommunities were significantly affected by combination patterns.The assembly processes of abundant/rare taxa and bacterial/fungal communities were distinct,and environmental changes mediated the balance between stochastic and deterministic processes in rare bacteria assembly.Furthermore,specific combination patterns improved the flavor quality of Zaopei by enhancing the interspecies interaction,which was closely related to rare taxa,especially rare bacteria.These findings highlighted that rare bacteria might be the keystone in involving community interaction and maintaining metabolic function,which provided a scientific foundation for better understanding and regulating the brewing microbiota from the viewpoint of microbial ecology.
基金funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2016YFC0503100)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.31670429 and 31400346).
文摘Background:Understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly is helpful for conservation and restoration of communities, particularly those that contain rare and endangered species like Taxus fuana, which are endemic to the Western Himalayas. The niche (limiting similarity) vs. neutral (randomness) assembly of the T.fuana forest community in Gyirong County, Tibet, China, was investigated. The net relatedness index (NRI) was calculated using a phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic characteristics of the community and its relationships with environment were analyzed.Results:The value of the mean NRI at the community level was less than-1.96, indicating that the phylogenetic structure was overdispersed;whereas majority of the NRIs at the tree, shrub, and herb layers were within-1.96 to1.96, indicating random dispersion. Environmental factors accounted for 44.38%, 46.52%, 24.04%, and 14.07%of the variation at the community level, tree, shrub, and herb layer, respectively. The phylogenetic structure at the community level and tree layer were significantly influenced by both topographic and soil factors, while shrub and herb layers tended to be affected by a single environmental factor.Conclusions:Community assembly of the T. fuana forest was simultaneously affected by niche and neutral processes, and their variations were closely related to the environment. Neutral process dominated community assembly in the shrub and herb layers. However, the interaction of limiting similarity and randomness played a dominant role at the community level and tree layer;and contributed to maintenance of biodiversity stability. The synergy of multiple environmental factors had a more obvious influence on community assembly than individual environmental factors, especially at the community level. These findings would help to understand the conservation of rare and endangered tree species, such as T. fuana, in the native community;and highlight the importance of random and non-random processes in assembly and biodiversity maintenance of alpine plant communities.
基金supported financially by the Dartmouth College Guarini Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
文摘Forests undergoing ecological succession following abandonment from agricultural use(i.e.,old fields)are ubiquitous in temperate regions of the U.S.and Europe.Ecological succession in old fields involves changes in vegetation composition influenced by factors such as land-use history,soil conditions,and dispersal limitations.Species’behavioral,morphological,physiological and life-history attributes influence the outcomes of environmental and biotic filters on distribution and abundance.However,many studies have focused on aboveground attributes,while less attention has been placed on belowground species characteristics that influence community assembly and function.In this study,we used a trait-based approach to examine how aboveground plant composition and distribution vary with plant root functional traits(e.g.,mycorrhizal association)that mediate access for nutrients such as nitrogen(N)and phosphorous(P).We inventoried every tree stem(n=11,551)in a 10-ha forested area containing old-field and historical forests and matched every species with root functional traits(n=33)from established databases.We found that land-use history influences community composition and distribution in old-field forests,which also varied with belowground root functional traits.Community composition in old-field forests,which were dominated by Acer saccharum and non-native species,were largely associated with arbuscular mycorrhizae(AM)and higher root nutrient concentrations.On the other hand,community composition in historical forests–largely dominated by Tsuga canadensis–were associated with ectomycorrhiza(EcM)and more variation of root length and depth.These results suggest that changes in aboveground communities have implications for belowground ecosystem services(e.g.,nutrient cycling)which are important to forest ecosystem development.Trait-based approaches can elucidate mechanisms of community assembly,and understanding how traits influence species coexistence and interactions can inform management decisions related to biodiversity conservation and restoration efforts in disturbed or altered forests.
基金National Research Foundation of South Africa(grants 89967 and 109244)
文摘Background： Species turnover is typically measured by partitioning diversity components into alpha and pairwise beta diversity. However, alpha and beta components cannot express the full spectrum of multiple-site compositional turnover. To this end, zeta diversity has been proposed as an extended framework to allow complete biodiversity partitioning and to measure multiple-site species turnover. We use a zeta-diversity framework to explore the turnover and potential community assembly processes of an African Montane Forest. Methods： Using a 20 m grid, we explore the species turnover in a 4.55 ha forest plot located in the Garden Route National Park of South Africa, with 47 and 27 canopy and sub-canopy tree species in the regional poo We first calculate how zeta diversity declines and how the probability of retention of species with particular occupancies changes with increasing zeta orders （i.e. the number of sites [grid cells] involved in the calculation）. Using null models with row sums and column sums constrained respectively, we explore whether species turnover is driven by mechanisms of ecological differences （species-specific occupancies） or habitat heterogeneity （site-specific alpha diversity and thus environmental filters）. Results： The decline of zeta diversity with zeta order followed a power law; that is, the probability of retention increased with species occupancies, suggesting common species being more likely to be discovered in extra sites. The null model retaining row sums （species＇ occupancy） of the species-by-site matrix recreated perfectly the decline of zeta diversity, while the null model of habitat heterogeneity （retaining column sums） was rejected. This suggests that mechanisms driving species-specific occupancies （i.e. ecological differences between species） dictate the multi-site species turnover in the community. The spatial patterns of zeta diversity revealed little spatial structuring forces, supporting a fine-grain structure in these southern Cape forests. Conclusions： The framework of zeta diversity revealed mechanisms driving the large discrepancies in the occupancy among species that are behind the species turnover in the African Montane forest plot. Future studies could further link species turnover to spatial distance decay. Environmental filters and temporal turnover from landscape demography could bring a cohesive understanding of community assembly in these unique forest ecosystems.
