Wuling Mountains are a series of mountains with high habitat complexity and species diversity, connecting not only the northern subtropics to the mid-subtropics, but also the floras of Eastern and South-Western China. However, previous studies were limited to certain families or genera examination, the distributions of all woody plant species were not analyzed.

Using detailed distribution data for woody plant species in China, researchers from the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University have quantitatively evaluated spatial patterns in diversity in Wuling Mountains and the adjacent regions (a total of 820,000 km²) to provide an overview of inter-regional species relationships.

The study area was divided into six regions based on community compositions, including three mountainous regions (Wuling Mountains Region, Qinling-Dabashan Mountains Region and Nanling-Xuefengshan Mountains Region), one plain (Yangtze Plain Region), one basin (Sichuan Basin Region), and one plateau (Yungui Plateau Region).

The researchers found that plant species diversity was higher in mountainous areas than on the plains or in the basins, and species similarity was significantly higher latitudinally vs. longitudinally in Wuling Mountains, indicating the Wuling Mountains' corridor role for woody species exchange between Northern and Southern China.

This study highlights the importance of Wuling Mountains as an ecological corridor. Maintaining the ecological integrity of Wuling forests and strengthening biodiversity protection are important to ensure the long-term conservation of species in central China.

Relevant results have been published on Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution in a paper titled "Wuling Mountains Function as a Corridor for Woody Plant Species Exchange Between Northern and Southern Central China."

Spatial patterns in β-diversity at different scales and for different directions. (A, C, E, G) Represent longitudinal directional β-diversity at 50, 100, 150, and 200 km respectively; (B, D, F, H) represents latitudinal β-diversity at 50, 100, 150, and 200 km respectively. (Image by WBG)