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Spatial patterns and interspecific relationships of two dominant cushion plants at three elevations on the Kunlun Mountain, China

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Abstract

One of the most important ecological processes is the formation of interspecific relationships in relation to spatial patterns among alpine cushion plants in extreme environmental habitats. However, such relationships remain poorly understood. Here, we examined the spatial patterns of alpine cushion plants along an altitudinal gradient of environmental severity and the interspecific relationship between two cushion species (Thylacospermum caespitosum and Androsace tangulashanensis) on the eastern Kunlun Mountain of China. Our results showed that the two species were highly aggregated within a distance of 2.5–5 m at the mid (S2) altitude, whereas they were randomly distributed at the low (S1) and high (S3) altitudes. A positive spatial interaction between the two species was observed over shorter distances at the mid (S2) altitude, and the spatial patterns were related to the size of individuals of the two species. Moreover, the impact of A. tangulashanensis on T. caespitosum (RIIT. caespitosum) was negative in all the study plots, and a positive impact of T. caespitosum on A. tangulashanensis (RIIA. tangulashanensis) was only observed at the mid (S2) altitude. Together, these results demonstrated that the spatial patterns of these two cushions varied with environmental severity, since the outcome of the interactions were different, to some extent, at the three altitudes. Plant size is the main factor affecting the spatial correlation and interspecific relationship between two cushions. Therefore, its potential influence should be considered when discussing interspecific relationships among cushions and their community construction at small scales in alpine ecosystems.

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Funding

This research work was supported by Scientific Research Start-up Funds for Openly-recruited Doctors of Gansu Agricultural University (GAU-KYQD-2019-02); the Key Program National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31230014); the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2014CB954203); the Science and Technology Partnership Program, Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. KY201501008); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. lzujbky-2017-152); and the 111 Project (No. B16022).

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  1. College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, No. 1 Yingmen Village, Anning District, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China

    Rui–ming Zhao

  2. MOE Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Tianshui South Road 222, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China

    Hua Zhang & Li–zhe An

  3. Beijing Forestry University, No. 35 Tsinghua East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, China

    Li–zhe An

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  1. Rui–ming Zhao
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Zhao, R., Zhang, H. & An, L. Spatial patterns and interspecific relationships of two dominant cushion plants at three elevations on the Kunlun Mountain, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 17339–17349 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08324-z

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