Steep topography buffers threatened gymnosperm species against anthropogenic pressures in China

China is one of the most species-rich countries in the world, harbouring many rare gymnosperms. Following recent human-led loss of forests, China is now experiencing increases in forest cover resulting from efforts of reforestation-schemes. As anthropogenic activities have previously been found to interact with topography in shaping forest cover in China and considering the large human population and the ongoing population increase of the country, it is important to understand the role of anthropogenic pressures relative to environmental drivers for shaping species distributions here. Based on the well-established relationship between human population density and topography, we propose a hypothesis for explaining species distributions in a country dominated by human activities, predicting that species are more likely to occur in areas of steep topography under medium human population densities compared to low- and high human population densities. Using species occurrence data from the C...

中国是全球物种最丰富的国家之一，孕育有诸多珍稀裸子植物（gymnosperms）。近年来受人类活动导致的森林丧失影响，当前中国通过实施各类造林计划，正推动森林覆盖率持续提升。既往研究已证实，人为活动与地形的交互作用会塑造中国的森林覆盖格局；加之中国拥有庞大的人口基数且人口仍在持续增长，厘清人为压力相较于环境驱动因子在塑造当地物种分布格局中的作用，具有重要意义。基于人口密度与地形间已被广泛验证的关联关系，本研究针对人类活动主导国家的物种分布格局提出一项假说：相较于低、高人口密度区域，在中等人口密度水平下，物种更倾向于分布在地形陡峭的区域。本研究采用源自C...的物种出现记录数据