Plant diversity in giant panda habitat

Understanding the relative importance of the factors driving the patterns of biodi-
versity is a key research topic in community ecology and biogeography. However, the 
main drivers of plant species diversity in montane forests are still not clear. In addi-
tion, most existing studies make no distinction between direct and indirect effects of 
environmental factors and spatial constraints on plant biodiversity. Using data from 
107 montane forest plots in Sichuan Giant Panda habitat, China, we quantified the 
direct and indirect effects of abiotic environmental factors, spatial constraints, and 
plant functional traits on plant community diversity. Our results showed significant 
correlations between abiotic environmental factors and trees (r = .10, p value = .001), 
shrubs (r = .19, p value = .001), or overall plant diversity (r = .18, p value = .001) in mon-
tane forests. Spatial constraints also showed significant correlations with trees and 
shrubs. However, no significan...