Factors influencing the diversity of terrestrial plant communities in China

The mechanism of biodiversity formation and maintenance is an important topic in ecological research. To reveal the ecological processes affecting plant diversity formation of terrestrial ecosystems in China, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the dominant factors affecting plant diversity of different growth forms in different climatic zones, including climate, soil, and topography. We collected data from 441 published papers, and constructed multiple regression models. The results showed that the tropical humid zone and the plateau climate zone had the richest plant diversity in China, followed by the subtropical humid zone and the temperate humid semi-humid zone. The temperate arid and semi-arid zone had the lowest plant diversity. With the exception of the temperate arid and semi-arid zone and the tropical humid zones, topographic and soil factors had the greatest overall influence on tree diversity. Except for herb in temperate arid and semi-arid zone, the diversity of shrubs and herbs in other climate zones, as well as the diversity of shrubs in temperate arid and semi-arid zone, were primarily influenced by topography and soil factors. Different mechanisms affected plant diversity of different growth forms in different climatic zones, though they were all affected by factors including climate, soil, and topography. At regional scale, soil and topographic factors played an important role in the formation and maintenance of plant diversity, confirming the influence of differences in habitat heterogeneity on plant diversity at large scales.