Dispersal corridors for plant species in the Poyang Lake Basin of southeast China identified by integration of phylogeographic and geospatial data

Dengmei Fan, Zhixia Sun, Bo Li, Yixuan Kou, Richard G.J. Hodel, Zhinong Jin, Zhiyong Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Measuring the dispersal of wildlife through landscapes is notoriously difficult. Recently, the categorical least cost path algorithm that integrates population genetic data with species distribution models has been applied to reveal population connectivity. In this study, we use this method to identify the possible dispersal corridors of five plant species (Castanopsis tibetana, Schima superba, Cyclocarya paliurus, Sargentodoxa cuneata, Eomecon chionantha) in the Poyang Lake Basin (PLB, largely coinciding with Jiangxi Province), China, in the late Quaternary. The results showed that the strongest population connectivity for the five species occurred in the Wuyi Mountains and the Yu Mountains of the eastern PLB (East Corridor) during the late Quaternary. In the western PLB, populations of the five species were connected by the Luoxiao Mountains and the Jiuling Mountains (West Corridor) but with a lower degree of connectivity. There were some minor connections between the eastern and the western populations across the Gannan Hills. When the corridors of five species were overlaid, the East Corridor and the West Corridor were mostly shared by multiple species. These results indicate that plant species in the PLB could have responded to the Quaternary climate changes by moving along the East Corridor and the West Corridor. Given that dispersal corridors have seldom been considered in the governmental strategies of biodiversity conservation in the PLB, preserving and restoring natural vegetation along these corridors should be prioritized to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change by facilitating migration of plant species and other biota.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5140-5148
Number of pages9
JournalEcology and Evolution
Volume7
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • chloroplast haplotype
  • dispersal corridor
  • Jiangxi Province
  • least cost path
  • Poyang Lake Basin
  • species distribution modeling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Nature and Landscape Conservation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dispersal corridors for plant species in the Poyang Lake Basin of southeast China identified by integration of phylogeographic and geospatial data'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this