Scholarlink

Background <p>Plant-plant positive interactions are among the main drivers of plant community structure, especially in stressful environments. While the ecological dynamics of such facilitation are increasingly understood, studies evaluating the importance of nurse plants in preserving phylogenetic diversity and protecting species of medicinal value and conservation concern are still limited. Here, we investigated the nurse effects of a Himalayan endemic shrub, <i>Berberis angulosa</i>, in promoting taxonomic richness, composition and phylogenetic diversity of overall and highly valued species in the high-elevation mountain landscape of Langtang National Park, Nepal. Using pair-wise sampling design, we recorded plant communities within the patches of <i>Berberis</i> shrubs and in open gaps at three altitudinal belts.</p> Results <p>Compared to adjacent open areas, <i>Berberis</i> patches were found to harbor compositionally distinct and evolutionarily diverse lineage plant communities with significantly higher average overall and human-valued species richness. Relative interaction indices showed clear patterns along an elevation gradient with the strongest facilitation observed at highest elevations. Comparisons of phylogenetic diversity across elevations showed inconsistent patterns, whereas overall metrics indicated higher phylogenetic diversity in shrub habitats for human-valued species. Facilitation by <i>Berberis</i> enhanced community-level richness by 40% (39 species; total = 97), including 19 human-valued species (~ 36%; total = 53) that occurred exclusively within shrub canopies. Many medicinal, endemic and conservation priority species were either shrub specialists or had significant association with <i>Berberis</i> patches, illustrating the protective role of the nurse shrub.</p> Conclusions <p>Our results demonstrate that the facilitative effect of <i>Berberis</i> is not only crucial in maintaining plant communities with diverse evolutionary histories but also equally contributing to local beta and landscape-scale gamma biodiversity, sustaining valuable ecosystem services and benefits to human communities in the Himalayas. These findings suggest that appropriate management of such nurse plants may constitute a nature-based approach to biodiversity conservation, that should be considered in policies for sustainability, resilience, and ecosystem functioning in this high-elevation alpine system.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Facilitation by an endemic shrub as a nature-based approach to conserve taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities of high-value plants in the Himalayas

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月13日

查看全文
  • Rabindra Parajuli,
  • Bishnu Timilsina,
  • Rita Chhetri,
  • Prakash Bhattarai,
  • Khadananda Acharya,
  • Charles B. van Rees

摘要

Background

Plant-plant positive interactions are among the main drivers of plant community structure, especially in stressful environments. While the ecological dynamics of such facilitation are increasingly understood, studies evaluating the importance of nurse plants in preserving phylogenetic diversity and protecting species of medicinal value and conservation concern are still limited. Here, we investigated the nurse effects of a Himalayan endemic shrub, Berberis angulosa, in promoting taxonomic richness, composition and phylogenetic diversity of overall and highly valued species in the high-elevation mountain landscape of Langtang National Park, Nepal. Using pair-wise sampling design, we recorded plant communities within the patches of Berberis shrubs and in open gaps at three altitudinal belts.

Results

Compared to adjacent open areas, Berberis patches were found to harbor compositionally distinct and evolutionarily diverse lineage plant communities with significantly higher average overall and human-valued species richness. Relative interaction indices showed clear patterns along an elevation gradient with the strongest facilitation observed at highest elevations. Comparisons of phylogenetic diversity across elevations showed inconsistent patterns, whereas overall metrics indicated higher phylogenetic diversity in shrub habitats for human-valued species. Facilitation by Berberis enhanced community-level richness by 40% (39 species; total = 97), including 19 human-valued species (~ 36%; total = 53) that occurred exclusively within shrub canopies. Many medicinal, endemic and conservation priority species were either shrub specialists or had significant association with Berberis patches, illustrating the protective role of the nurse shrub.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that the facilitative effect of Berberis is not only crucial in maintaining plant communities with diverse evolutionary histories but also equally contributing to local beta and landscape-scale gamma biodiversity, sustaining valuable ecosystem services and benefits to human communities in the Himalayas. These findings suggest that appropriate management of such nurse plants may constitute a nature-based approach to biodiversity conservation, that should be considered in policies for sustainability, resilience, and ecosystem functioning in this high-elevation alpine system.