Interplay of temperature and woody cover shapes herb communities along an elevational gradient in a temperate forest in Beijing, China

Zihan Jiang; Keming Ma; M. Anand; Yuxin Zhang

doi:10.1556/168.2015.16.2.9

Community Ecology

Volume/Issue:: Volume 16: Issue 2

Interplay of temperature and woody cover shapes herb communities along an elevational gradient in a temperate forest in Beijing, China

Authors:

Zihan Jiang

Zihan Jiang Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN-100085 Beijing, PR China

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Keming Ma

Keming Ma Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN-100085 Beijing, PR China

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mkm@ rcees.ac.cn

M. Anand

M. Anand Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

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Yuxin Zhang

Yuxin Zhang Chinese Academy of Sciences, CN-100085 Beijing, PR China

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Pages:: 215–222

Online Publication Date:: Dec 2015

Publication Date:: 01 Dec 2015

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/168.2015.16.2.9

Keywords:: Accumulated temperature of growth duration; Elevational gradient; Herb communities; Maximum summer temperature; Overstory cover

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Abiotic and biotic factors have the potential to alter herb communities, however, few studies consider feedback between them. This study explores how variation of species interaction and climatic conditions associated with changes in altitude affect herb community composition. We sampled accumulated temperatures of growth duration (June-November) (ATGD), maximum summer temperatures (MST) and herb community composition (herb height, abundance, richness) on non-gaps and forest-gaps site across an elevational gradient. A significant negative relationship was detected between MST and herb richness. The temperature of non-gaps was cooler than that of forest gaps, and overstory cover positively correlated with herb abundance. However, the ATGD exhibited a negative relationship with overstory cover, in that overstory cover decreased with ATGD. We suggested that temperature has a profound effect on height and richness of herb communities, while the overstory cover is moderating the effect of temperature on herb community structure and influence the abundance of herb community. Conversely, decreases in ATGD weakened the relative importance of overstory cover. We concluded that the interaction of temperature and overstory cover shapes the morphology, abundance and richness of herb communities.

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Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies

Print ISSN:: 1585-8553

Online ISSN:: 1588-2756

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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.
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ISSN	1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN	1588-2756 (Online)