Effects of the main media of wind and water on the biodiversity pattern of grassland and its driving mechanism in Poyang Lake

Abstract

As important media for species diffusion, water and wind are two important factors for grassland biodiversity conservation in lake areas. Exploring their driving mechanism on grassland biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the lake ecosystem's equilibrium. Our study utilizes the data of wind velocity and water level, which are significant performance factors for wind and water respectively in Poyang Lake from 2000 to 2020 to reveal their interannual time‐series fluctuation characteristics and their influence mechanism on the grassland biodiversity pattern. Landscape pattern indices and biodiversity indicators, such as the number of patches (NP), patch density (PD), landscape spreading index (CI), landscape fragmentation index (LSD), landscape aggregation index (AI), Simpson diversity index (MSIDI) and Simpson evenness index (MSIEI) were analysed, trend analysis, redundancy analysis and structural equation modelling were applied in this study. The main results were: (1) From 2000 to 2020, Poyang Lake's wind velocity decreased gradually, and the water level first decreased and then rose. NP in Poyang Lake fluctuated substantially, LSD fluctuated frequently and obvious temporal heterogeneity existed. (2) CI and AI increased from low to high value, facilitating species dispersal and migration. The dominant species with high aggregation gradually established stronger connectivity. Moderate spreading degree and aggregation degree maintained high biodiversity and evenness, whereas excessive spreading degree and aggregation degree led to homogenization of species, decrease in biodiversity, reduction in species evenness, and increase in dominance. (3) As the landscape transformed from having no obvious dominant species to being dominated by several dominant species, MSIEI and landscape dominance changed from high to low and low to high respectively. Moreover, the biodiversity shifted from high to low, and species distribution in the landscape shifted from balanced to unbalanced. (4) The effect of water level on PD, AI, LSD, MSIDI and MSIET was significantly higher than that of wind velocity. LSD was mainly regulated by the minimum wind velocity affecting the maximum and average water levels. MSIDI and MSIET were primarily governed by the minimum wind velocity affecting the minimum water level. The minimum water level decreased as the minimum wind velocity increased, and MSIDI and MSIET weakened as the minimum water level decreased.