title: Shift of fleshy fruited species along elevation: temperature, canopy coverage, phylogeny and origin.
abstract: Plant communities differ in their fruit type spectra, especially in the proportions of fleshy and non-fleshy fruit types. However, which abiotic and biotic factors drive this variability along elevation gradient and what drives the evolution of fruit type diversity still are puzzling. We analyzed the variations in proportions and richness of fleshy-fruited species and their correlations to various abiotic and biotic variables along elevation gradients in three mountains in the Beijing region, northeast China. Fleshy-fruited species, which are characterized by high fruit water contents, were found in great proportion and richness at relatively low elevations, where soil water content is low compared to high elevations. High temperatures in low elevations increase water availability for plants. Plants that grow in the shaded low-elevation thick-canopy forests are less exposed to evapotranspiration and thus possess water surpluses that can be invested in fleshy fruits. Such an investment in fleshy fruits is beneficial for these species because it makes the fruits more attractive to frugivores that act as seed dispersers in the close-canopied environments, where dispersion by wind is less effective. A hypothesis is proposed that plant internal water surpluses are the prerequisite conditions that permit evolution of fleshy fruits to occur.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Shunli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.|The Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Tamar Regional Council 8691000, Israel.
authors.forename: Ofir
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Danfeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.|College of Life and Environmental Science, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Weiguo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia.
authors.forename: Canran
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D065928:Forests; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development*; D060434:Herbivory; D010802:Phylogeny; D058614:Seed Dispersal / Q000502:physiology