skip to main content
Language:
Search Limited to: Search Limited to: Resource type Show Results with: Show Results with: Search type Index

Human activities have opposing effects on distributions of narrow-ranged and widespread plant species in China

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2019-12, Vol.116 (52), p.26674-26681 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. ;Copyright National Academy of Sciences Dec 26, 2019 ;Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. 2019 ;ISSN: 0027-8424 ;EISSN: 1091-6490 ;DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911851116 ;PMID: 31843905

Full text available

Citations Cited by
  • Title:
    Human activities have opposing effects on distributions of narrow-ranged and widespread plant species in China
  • Author: Xu, Wu-Bing ; Svenning, Jens-Christian ; Chen, Guo-Ke ; Zhang, Ming-Gang ; Huang, Ji-Hong ; Chen, Bin ; Ordonez, Alejandro ; Ma, Ke-Ping
  • Subjects: Agricultural land ; Anthropogenic factors ; Biological Sciences ; Flora ; Geographical distribution ; Human behavior ; Human influences ; Human population density ; Human populations ; Indicators ; Plant species ; Plants ; Population density ; Protected areas ; Species
  • Is Part Of: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2019-12, Vol.116 (52), p.26674-26681
  • Description: Human activities have shaped large-scale distributions of many species, driving both range contractions and expansions. Species differ naturally in range size, with small-range species concentrated in particular geographic areas and potentially deviating ecologically from widespread species. Hence, species’ responses to human activities may be influenced by their geographic range sizes, but if and how this happens are poorly understood. Here, we use a comprehensive distribution database and species distribution modeling to examine if and how human activities have affected the extent to which 9,701 vascular plants fill their climatic potential ranges in China. We find that narrow-ranged species have lower range filling and widespread species have higher range filling in the human-dominated southeastern part of China, compared with their counterparts distributed in the less human-influenced northwestern part. Variations in range filling across species and space are strongly associated with indicators of human activities (human population density, human footprint, and proportion of cropland) even after controlling for alternative drivers. Importantly, narrow-ranged and widespread species show negative and positive range-filling relationships to these human indicators, respectively. Our results illustrate that floras risk biotic homogenization as a consequence of anthropogenic activities, with narrow-ranged species becoming replaced by widespread species. Because narrow-ranged species are more numerous than widespread species in nature, negative impacts of human activities will be prevalent. Our findings highlight the importance of establishing more protected areas and zones of reduced human activities to safeguard the rich flora of China.
  • Publisher: United States: National Academy of Sciences
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 0027-8424
    EISSN: 1091-6490
    DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911851116
    PMID: 31843905
  • Source: GFMER Free Medical Journals
    PMC (PubMed Central)
Back to results list
INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY (84-028) 37 755 057 Feedback
19 Nguyen Huu Tho St. Dist.7, HCM thuvien@tdtu.edu.vn

Copyright © 2017 INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY

Searching Remote Databases, Please Wait