Species-Abundance Distribution Patterns of Plant Communities in the Gurbantünggüt Desert, China

Zexuan Zang, Yong Zeng (), Dandan Wang, Fengzhi Shi, Yiyang Dong, Na Liu and Yuejia Liang
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Zexuan Zang: College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Yong Zeng: College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China
Dandan Wang: College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002, China
Fengzhi Shi: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Yiyang Dong: Science and Technology Research Institute, China Three Gorges Corporation, Beijing 100038, China
Na Liu: State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
Yuejia Liang: College of Geographic Science and Tourism, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi 830054, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-27

Abstract: It is important to study the species-abundance distribution pattern in a community to reveal the mechanism of community assembly. Six abundance models (log-normal distribution model, Zipf model, Zipf–Mandelbrot model, broken stick model, niche preemption model, and Volkov model) were used to fit the species-abundance distribution pattern of six scales (10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, 40 m ×40 m, 60 m × 60 m, 80 m × 80 m, 100 m × 100 m) in fixed, semifixed, and mobile sand dunes in the Gurbantünggüt Desert, respectively. The best-fitting model was determined using the K-S test, the Chi-square test, and the Akaike information criterion. The results showed that the values of soil salinity, nutrients, water content, Shannon–Wiener diversity index ( H′ ), Pielou evenness index ( E ), and Simpson index ( D ) were ranked in all three habitats as fixed dunes > semifixed dunes > mobile dunes. The rank curves span a narrow range on the horizontal axis at scales of 10 m × 10 m and 20 m × 20 m, and species richness is minimal. As the scale increases, the span range of the curve gradually increases, and species richness becomes higher at scales of 40 m × 40 m, 60 m × 60 m, 80 m × 80 m, and 100 m × 100 m. At the 10 m × 10 m and 20 m × 20 m scales, the broken stick model fits best in the three dune habitats. At the 40 m × 40 m and 60 m × 60 m scales, the niche preemption model fits best in the three dune habitats. At the 80 m × 80 m and 100 m × 100 m scales, the Volkov neutral model fits best in the fixed and semifixed dune habitats, and the niche preemption model fits best in the mobile dune habitats. In fixed, semifixed, and mobile dunes, both niche and neutral processes played important roles in community construction, reflecting the manifestation of the community niche-neutral continuum.

Keywords: species-abundance distribution; scale effect; species-abundance model; the Gurbantünggüt Desert (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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