Novel insights into how the mean and heterogeneity of abiotic conditions together shape forb species richness patterns in the Allegheny plateau ecoregion

While plant community theory tends to emphasize the importance of abiotic heterogeneity along niche axes, much empirical work seeks to characterize the influence of the absolute magnitude of key abiotic variables on diversity. Both magnitude (as reflected, e.g., by a mean) and heterogeneity (variance) in abiotic conditions likely contribute to biodiversity patterns in plant communities, but given the large number of putative abiotic drivers and the fact that each may vary at different spatiotemporal scales, the challenge of linking observed biotic patterns with the underlying environment remains acute. Using monitoring data from a natural resource agency, we compared how well statistical models of the mean, heterogeneity, and both the mean and heterogeneity combined of 17 abiotic factor variables explained patterns of forb species richness in Northeast Ohio, USA. We performed our analyses at two spatial scales, repeated in spring and summer across four forest types. Although all models ...

尽管植物群落理论往往强调非生物异质性（abiotic heterogeneity）沿生态位轴（niche axes）的重要性，但大量实证研究旨在阐明关键非生物变量的绝对量级对物种多样性的影响。非生物条件下的量级（例如以均值体现）与异质性（方差）均可能推动植物群落的生物多样性（biodiversity）格局形成，但鉴于假定的非生物驱动因子数量众多，且各因子可在不同时空尺度（spatiotemporal scales）上发生变化，将观测到的生物群落格局与潜在环境关联起来的挑战依然严峻。本研究借助某自然资源管理机构的监测数据，对比了17个非生物因子变量的均值模型、异质性模型以及二者联合模型对美国俄亥俄州东北部草本植物（forb）物种丰富度格局的解释能力。我们在两种空间尺度下开展分析，并在春季和夏季针对四种森林类型重复该分析流程。尽管所有模型……