Species–Habitat Associations in a Sri Lankan Dipterocarp Forest

IF 2.2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2025-07-17 DOI:10.1111/jvs.70049

G. J. M. Shanika R. Jayasinghe, Pushpakanthie Wijekoon, Tithira Lakkana, C. V. Savitri Gunatilleke, Sisira Ediriweera, Thorsten Wiegand

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Questions

A non-random spatial distribution of species in relation to environmental factors is an important mechanism for maintaining high tree diversity in tropical forests. Niche theory predicts that competing species should use the environment differently. However, we have only limited information on the extent to which environmental dependence and the relative importance of different types of environmental factors vary between species. It is also unclear how the environmental dependence differs according to life stage and species.

Location

Here we investigate the environmental variables that determine the spatial distribution of tree species in a 25-ha plot of mixed-dipterocarp tropical rainforest in Sri Lanka.

Methods

We compiled data on the spatial distribution of recruits, saplings, and adults of 57 tree species, as well as topographic and soil variables, and applied methods of spatial point process theory to estimate parametric spatial intensity functions for each life stage of the species as a function of environmental variables.

Results

Most species distributions were significantly associated with at least one environmental variable, with elevation and the first principal component of soil nutrients being the most important ones. With few exceptions, species showed an intermediate strength of environmental dependence, and we observed a striking similarity in the intraspecific environmental dependence between life stages. Finally, only a few species showed for the same life stage strong positive or negative correlations in their intensity functions, while most species pairs showed only weak or no correlations at all.

Conclusions

Taking together, our results indicate that the distribution of most of the more abundant species in our forest plot is influenced by local heterogeneity in environmental conditions, and that their environmental preferences lead to a spatial arrangement where competing species use the environment somewhat differently. Overall, our study provides a nuanced understanding of the complex environmental dependencies that shape tropical rainforest ecosystems at local spatial scales.

Abstract Image

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斯里兰卡双龙果林的物种-栖息地关系

物种与环境因子的非随机空间分布是热带森林保持高度树木多样性的重要机制。生态位理论预测竞争物种应该以不同的方式利用环境。然而，对于不同物种之间的环境依赖程度和不同类型环境因素的相对重要性，我们只有有限的信息。不同的生命阶段和物种对环境的依赖性有何不同也不清楚。在这里，我们研究了决定斯里兰卡25公顷混合龙脑热带雨林树种空间分布的环境变量。方法收集57种树种的幼树、树苗和成树的空间分布数据，以及地形和土壤变量，应用空间点过程理论的方法，估计树种各生命阶段的参数空间强度函数作为环境变量的函数。结果大多数物种的分布与至少一个环境变量显著相关，其中海拔和土壤养分第一主成分是最重要的环境变量。除了少数例外，物种表现出中等强度的环境依赖，我们观察到不同生命阶段的种内环境依赖具有惊人的相似性。最后，在同一生命阶段，只有少数物种的强度函数表现出较强的正相关或负相关，而大多数物种对的强度函数表现出较弱或根本不相关。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明，我们的森林样地中大多数丰富物种的分布受到当地环境条件异质性的影响，它们的环境偏好导致竞争物种对环境的利用有所不同的空间安排。总的来说，我们的研究提供了对在局部空间尺度上塑造热带雨林生态系统的复杂环境依赖关系的细致理解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

3.60%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Vegetation Science publishes papers on all aspects of plant community ecology, with particular emphasis on papers that develop new concepts or methods, test theory, identify general patterns, or that are otherwise likely to interest a broad international readership. Papers may focus on any aspect of vegetation science, e.g. community structure (including community assembly and plant functional types), biodiversity (including species richness and composition), spatial patterns (including plant geography and landscape ecology), temporal changes (including demography, community dynamics and palaeoecology) and processes (including ecophysiology), provided the focus is on increasing our understanding of plant communities. The Journal publishes papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities. Papers that apply ecological concepts, theories and methods to the vegetation management, conservation and restoration, and papers on vegetation survey should be directed to our associate journal, Applied Vegetation Science journal.