PJB-2018-1792
Plant alpha and beta diversity in relation to spatial distribution patterns in different plant community types
Naghmeh Piroozi, Asghar Kohandel, Mohammad Jafari, Ali Tavili and Ghasem Mortezaii Farizhendi
Abstract
While β-diversity is shaped by spatial turnover and nestedness, research on the effects of spatial patterns of plants on these components of β-diversity is limited. Therefore, to determine how spatial pattern in different vegetation types may be related to plant α- and β-diversity as well as turnover and nestedness components of β-diversity, we assessed plant spatial patterns in three communities dominated by shrubs, woody and trees species in the semi-arid regions of central parts of Zagros mountain, Iran. In order to determine the spatial patterns of dominant plant, the Morisita index was used. Additive partitioning diversity was used to partitioning the total diversity (γ-diversity) into α-and β-diversity and partitioning β-diversity into spatial turnover and nestedness. The observed Morisita indices indicated that dominant species in forest and shrubland were aggregated (Id = 1.445; Id = 1.258, respectively) while, in woodland regular patterns observed (Id = 0.94). The positive and negative effects of aggregated patterns were related to increase and decrease of diversity within and among samples, respectively, that reflected the role of disturbances filters on vegetation heterogeneity. Partitioning β-diversity into its components revealed that spatial turnover was the main contributor to β-diversity that revealed the overall patterns of multiple-sites dissimilarity of our plant communities were driven by the spatial turnover (species replacement) component and not by the nestedness component. We demonstrated that disturbance types affected the importance and interactions within plants in these communities, and caused different spatial patterns of the plant taxa resulted in variation on diversity components and turnover.
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