The biogeographical distribution of tree species-abundance and its relation to climatic factors in mass islands
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The biogeographical distribution of tree species-abundance and its relation to climatic factors in mass islands LI Xiaoming1, WU Chengzhen2, GU Wu1, YE Ran3, ZHANG Haibo3, QI Ping1, 4, WANG Shengqiang1, ZHOU Siying3, WEI Yongjie3, CAI Yanhong3* 1 State Oceanic Administration , Beijing 100860, China 2 Wuyi University, Wuyishan 354300, China 3 Marine Environmental Monitoring Center of Ningbo, Ningbo 315012, China 4 Marine Environmental Monitoring Center of Tianjin, Tianjin 300450, China
Received 3 June 2017; accepted 30 July 2017 ©The Chinese Society of Oceanography and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017
Abstract
Tree species-abundance in forests is a function of geographical area and climate, although it is not clear whether such relationships apply to mass islands. We examined the spatial pattern of tree species in mass islands along the coast of Zhejiang, East China Sea using the Preston model, to identify the relationships between tree communities and climatic conditions. The results show that: (1) the biogeographical distribution of tree species-abundance conformes to Preston’s log-normal pattern, and is in accordance with the findings in both tropical rainforests and estuarine forests; (2) the climatic factors related to tree communities in mass islands are similar to that of the subtropical zone, including the major species of evergreen needle-leaf, broad-leaf and deciduous broad-leaf forests. We conclude that the Preston model can be applied to the trees of mass islands and thus facilitate the systematic ecological researches of vegetation species’ composition in subtropical zone. Key words: mass islands, species-abundance, spatial pattern, log-normal model Citation: Li Xiaoming, Wu Chengzhen, Gu Wu, Ye Ran, Zhang Haibo, Qi Ping, Wang Shengqiang, Zhou Siying, Wei Yongjie, Cai Yanhong. 2017. The biogeographical distribution of tree species-abundance and its relation to climatic factors in mass islands. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 36(9): 87–90, doi: 10.1007/s13131-017-1103-2
1 Introduction There are more than 4 000 islands on the continental shelf of the East China Sea along the coast of Zhejiang, China, on which trees, shrubs and herbs are widely distributed with diverse abundance. The maximum length (north to south) and width (east to west) of these islands is 420 and 300 km, respectively. The areas of these islands range from 1×10–5 to 500 km2. Most of them are within the 20 m isobaths and at elevations from 50 to 200 m, with the highest of 500 m. In the last century, the pioneering studies of Williams, Preston, MacArthur, and Whittaker and colleagues sought to mathematically characterize the properties of biological communities and to interpret their spatial distribution patterns using a range of different mathematical models (see Brown, 1995). The study fields included terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, from highvelds to forests (temperate, sub-tropical, tropical), often with a focus on plants, animals, and microbes. Consideration has been given to many relatively rare species and only a few very abu
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