Authors:
X. Li Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology at Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730000 People’s Republic of China

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Y. Nie Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology at Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730000 People’s Republic of China

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X. Song Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology at Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730000 People’s Republic of China

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R. Zhang Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology at Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730000 People’s Republic of China

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G. Wang Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology at Lanzhou University Lanzhou 730000 People’s Republic of China

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Different components of biodiversity may vary differently since species diversity was considered to be determined by resource availability but functional diversity was related to partitioning of niche space. Moreover, the harsh or benign conditions may result in different niche space partitioning by the coexisting species. For example, in harsh environments niche differentiation may be stronger resulting in higher functional diversity. In this study, we investigate species diversity and functional diversity along a south-to north-facing slope gradient with different resource availability in a sub-alpine meadow. Our results indicate that the patterns of species diversity and functional diversity are not consistent along this gradient. Both species richness and Shannon index of diversity increased, but functional diversity slightly decreased or changed a little from south-to north-facing slope. Moreover, these two components formed a quadratic relationship. Soil water content (SWC) was the limiting resource along this gradient. On one hand, it determined the species diversity; on the other hand, it also influenced functional diversity via affecting niche differentiation and species trait pool. In conclusion, functional diversity was determined by both species richness and niche differentiation with the influence of soil water content.

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Community Ecology
Language English
Size A4
Year of
Foundation
2000
Volumes
per Year
1
Issues
per Year
3
Founder Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2756 (Online)