Elevational patterns of bird alpha and beta diversity in Haba Snow Mountain, Southwestern China: Implication for conservation

Abstract

Understanding environmental patterns of species diversity is essential for nature reserve planning and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we explored the birds’ alpha and beta diversity along the elevational gradients in Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve (hereafter, HBSM), a global biodiversity hotspot, and studied which environmental factor is the main driver in explaining alpha and beta diversity patterns. Our results indicated that taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic alpha diversity consistently exhibited hump-shaped patterns with similar peaks. After controlling for species richness, both functional and phylogenetic alpha diversity increased with elevation, and the peaks at 3400–3700 m. Mean pairwise functional distance remained nearly constant along the elevation band, whereas mean pairwise phylogenetic distance shown hump-shaped pattern, and the predicted MPD peaked at the fifth band (3100–3400 m a.s.l). The functional and phylogenetic structure of bird communities in HBSM were more clustered along the elevation gradients, suggesting environmental filtering likely drove the assembly processes. Additionally, primary productivity (NDVI and/or habitat heterogeneity) and/or precipitation were robust predictors of variation in most diversity metrics. For multiple-site beta diversity, we observed that high turnover component in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic dimensions, indicating distinct bird assemblages across various elevational bands. In pairwise beta diversity, the spatial turnover of taxonomic and phylogenetic aspects was higher than nestedness, revealing species replacement occurs relatively frequently between evolutionarily related species with similar niche and functional traits. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering both different dimensions and multifaceted diversity when assessing elevational patterns of bird diversity. This study also provides valuable insights into the structuring mechanisms of bird communities and informs conservation planning along elevational gradients in HBSM, and offers a comprehensive case on species richness along elevational gradients.