Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world

doi:10.1016/j.pld.2023.01.001

Plant Diversity ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (06): 883-888.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2023.01.001

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Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world

Hong Qian^a, Tao Deng^b,c

a Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703, USA;
b CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China;
c Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

Received:2022-10-15 Revised:2022-12-31 Online:2026-01-13 Published:2026-01-13
Contact: Hong Qian,E-mail:hong.qian@illinoisstatemuseum.org
Supported by:
We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. This study was supported by grants from the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (2019QZKK0502), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20050203), the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan joint fund to support key projects (U1802232), the Major Program for Basic Research Project of Yunnan Province (202101BC070002), the Yunnan Young & Elite Talents Project (YNWR-QNBJ-2019-033), the Ten Thousand Talents Program of Yunnan Province (202005AB160005) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Light of West China” Program.

Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world

Hong Qian^a, Tao Deng^b,c

a Research and Collections Center, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703, USA;
b CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China;
c Yunnan International Joint Laboratory for Biodiversity of Central Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

通讯作者: Hong Qian,E-mail:hong.qian@illinoisstatemuseum.org
基金资助:
We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. This study was supported by grants from the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) program (2019QZKK0502), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA20050203), the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan joint fund to support key projects (U1802232), the Major Program for Basic Research Project of Yunnan Province (202101BC070002), the Yunnan Young & Elite Talents Project (YNWR-QNBJ-2019-033), the Ten Thousand Talents Program of Yunnan Province (202005AB160005) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Light of West China” Program.

Abstract

Abstract: The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is the highest and one of the most extensive plateaus in the world. Investigating naturalized non-native plant species composition, phylogenetic relationships among naturalized plant species, and phylogenetic relationships between native and naturalized plant species on the plateau is of great importance. Here, we analyze a comprehensive dataset including all species of native and naturalized vascular plants known to occur in the core part of the QTP. We use net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI), which reflect deep and shallow evolutionary histories, respectively, to quantify phylogenetic relatedness among angiosperm species. The QTP included in this study (1,448,815 km²) has 9086 and 314 species of native and naturalized non-native vascular plants, respectively. We find that the naturalized angiosperm species are phylogenetically clustered with respect to the species pool including all native and naturalized angiosperm species on the QTP included in this study, regardless of whether NRI or NTI is used. For the eight regions within the QTP included in this study, NRI and NTI of naturalized angiosperms are positive in seven regions with respect to their respective regional species pools, reflecting phylogenetic clustering. Thus, naturalized angiosperm species are a phylogenetically clustered subset of all angiosperm species on the QTP, regardless of whether the studied plateau as a whole or its constituent regions are considered.

Key words: Community assembly, Exotic species, Introduced species, Naturalized species, Vascular plants

摘要： The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is the highest and one of the most extensive plateaus in the world. Investigating naturalized non-native plant species composition, phylogenetic relationships among naturalized plant species, and phylogenetic relationships between native and naturalized plant species on the plateau is of great importance. Here, we analyze a comprehensive dataset including all species of native and naturalized vascular plants known to occur in the core part of the QTP. We use net relatedness index (NRI) and nearest taxon index (NTI), which reflect deep and shallow evolutionary histories, respectively, to quantify phylogenetic relatedness among angiosperm species. The QTP included in this study (1,448,815 km²) has 9086 and 314 species of native and naturalized non-native vascular plants, respectively. We find that the naturalized angiosperm species are phylogenetically clustered with respect to the species pool including all native and naturalized angiosperm species on the QTP included in this study, regardless of whether NRI or NTI is used. For the eight regions within the QTP included in this study, NRI and NTI of naturalized angiosperms are positive in seven regions with respect to their respective regional species pools, reflecting phylogenetic clustering. Thus, naturalized angiosperm species are a phylogenetically clustered subset of all angiosperm species on the QTP, regardless of whether the studied plateau as a whole or its constituent regions are considered.

关键词: Community assembly, Exotic species, Introduced species, Naturalized species, Vascular plants

Hong Qian, Tao Deng. Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world[J]. Plant Diversity, 2025, 47(06): 883-888.

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Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world

Species invasion and phylogenetic relatedness of vascular plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the roof of the world

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