title: Elevational sensitivity in an Asian 'hotspot': moth diversity across elevational gradients in tropical, sub-tropical and sub-alpine China.
abstract: South-western China is widely acknowledged as a biodiversity 'hotspot': there are high levels of diversity and endemism, and many environments are under significant anthropogenic threats not least climate warming. Here, we explore diversity and compare response patterns of moth assemblages among three elevational gradients established within different climatic bioregions - tropical rain forest, sub-tropical evergreen broad-leaved forest and sub-alpine coniferous forest in Yunnan Province, China. We hypothesised that tropical assemblages would be more elevationally stratified than temperate assemblages, and tropical species would be more elevationally restricted than those in the temperate zone. Contrary to our hypothesis, the moth fauna was more sensitive to elevational differences within the temperate transect, followed by sub-tropical and tropical transects. Moths in the cooler and more seasonal temperate sub-alpine gradient showed stronger elevation-decay beta diversity patterns, and more species were restricted to particular elevational ranges. Our study suggests that moth assemblages are under threat from future climate change and sub-alpine rather than tropical faunas may be the most sensitive to climate change. These results improve our understanding of China's biodiversity and can be used to monitor future changes to herbivore assemblages in a 'hotspot' of biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute and Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.|Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.|Department of life sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ashton
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.|Environmental Futures Research Institute and Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.|Biodiversity Program, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute and Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.|Biodiversity Program, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Burwell
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Crowtrees, Low Bentham, Lancaster, LA2 7EE, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Lijiang Forest Ecosystem Research Station, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Environmental Futures Research Institute and Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.|Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kitching