Elevation gradient effects on grassland species diversity and phylogenetic in the two-river source forest region of the Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China.

Abstract

Altitude, as a key environmental factor, shapes the spatial patterns of species diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and community phylogenetic structure. Studying grassland diversity and phylogenetic structure along altitudinal gradients helps clarify how altitude-driven environmental changes influence community assembly, and reveal vertical patterns in community formation. This study examines grasslands at 1300-2500 m elevation in the Two-River Source Forest Area, Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. Six elevation gradients (200 m intervals) were surveyed with 90 grassland quadrats, documenting community characteristics and environmental data. The study analyzes the patterns of species composition, diversity, and phylogeny across different elevation gradients and explores their relationships with key environmental factors. The results indicate that the grassland species composition is dominated by species from the Poaceae, Rosaceae, and Asteraceae families, with Poa annua (annual bluegrass) being the dominant species within Poaceae. The species diversity along the elevation gradient exhibits a bimodal trend, with an initial increase, followed by a decrease, another increase, and finally a decline as the elevation rises. In contrast, phylogenetic diversity shows a unimodal pattern, characterized by an initial increase followed by a decline with increasing elevation. Although the phylogenetic structure did not exhibit a significant trend of transitioning from divergence to clustering along the altitudinal gradient, the overall phylogenetic pattern of grassland communities tended toward clustering. Further analysis reveals significant correlations between species diversity and environmental factors such as temperature, precipitation, forest cover, and soil moisture. However, no environmental factors were found to have a significant correlation with the phylogenetic indices.