Characteristics and driving mechanisms of species beta diversity in desert plant communities.

ABSTRACT: Species dissimilarity (beta diversity) primarily reflects the spatio-temporal changes in the species composition of a plant community. The correlations between β diversity and environmental factors and spatial distance can be used to explain the magnitudes of environmental filtering and dispersal. However, little is known about the relative roles and importance of neutral and niche-related factors in the assemblage of plant communities with different life forms in deserts. We found that in desert ecosystems, the β diversity of herbaceous plants was the highest, followed by that of shrubs and trees. The changes in the β diversity of herbs and shrubs had stronger correlations with the environment, indicating that community aggregation was strongly affected by niche processes. The soil water

SUBMITTER: Jiang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7799812 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature