Floristic composition, phylogenetic diversity, and community assembly identify the Lutou Experimental Forest as a model subtropical hub in the tropical–temperate transition zone

Floristic composition, phylogenetic diversity, and community assembly identify the Lutou Experimental Forest as a model subtropical hub in the tropical–temperate transition zone | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Floristic composition, phylogenetic diversity, and community assembly identify the Lutou Experimental Forest as a model subtropical hub in the tropical–temperate transition zone YuanHang Wu, YiDan Shi, RuiDong Lu, ChunZe Xie, HuangHui Yu, PingLin He, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9056627/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Subtropical mountain ecosystems serve as dynamic interfaces between tropical and temperate biotas, hosting high biodiversity shaped by complex topography and stable historical climate. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of the Lutou Experimental Forest in the northern Mulianjiu Mountains of central subtropical China, an area situated at a key tropical–temperate transition zone. A total of 1,209 seed plant species belonging to 149 families and 595 genera were documented, showing a balanced composition of woody and herbaceous taxa as well as a coexistence of evergreen and deciduous species, typical of transitional floras. Floristic analyses demonstrated nearly equal proportions of tropical and temperate elements, complemented by exceptionally high proportions of East Asian endemic genera (18.13%) and East Asia–North America disjunct genera (10.08%). Principal component analysis (PCA) positioned Lutou centrally within the national subtropical transitional cluster, reflecting its unique biogeographic bridging role. Environmental data indicated that high annual precipitation (~ 1,900 mm), moderate annual temperature (15°C), and a pronounced elevational gradient (124–1,272 m) jointly drive strong microhabitat differentiation. Castanopsis eyrei evergreen broad-leaved forest was identified as the most mature and ecologically representative community type. Regional comparison across 16 subtropical mountain ranges in China revealed that the Mulianjiu Mountains harbor the highest narrow-endemic species richness and Weighted Endemism Index (WEI) density. We conclude that Lutou is a core floristic and evolutionary hub in the tropical–temperate transition, where climate stability, topographic heterogeneity, and ecological maturity converge to sustain both relictual persistence and ongoing evolutionary diversification. Castanopsis forest community structure ecotone dynamics Lutou Experimental Forest phylogenetic diversity subtropical flora Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 09 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 08 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 07 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9056627","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605206046,"identity":"75bb9189-2dfc-47ea-8017-82422ad76358","order_by":0,"name":"YuanHang Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"College of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"YuanHang","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":605206047,"identity":"9fe99e34-d396-4927-ace3-ad146a8edc61","order_by":1,"name":"YiDan Shi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"College of Forestry, 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diversity, subtropical flora","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9056627/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9056627/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSubtropical mountain ecosystems serve as dynamic interfaces between tropical and temperate biotas, hosting high biodiversity shaped by complex topography and stable historical climate. This study presents a comprehensive assessment of the Lutou Experimental Forest in the northern Mulianjiu Mountains of central subtropical China, an area situated at a key tropical\u0026ndash;temperate transition zone. A total of 1,209 seed plant species belonging to 149 families and 595 genera were documented, showing a balanced composition of woody and herbaceous taxa as well as a coexistence of evergreen and deciduous species, typical of transitional floras. Floristic analyses demonstrated nearly equal proportions of tropical and temperate elements, complemented by exceptionally high proportions of East Asian endemic genera (18.13%) and East Asia\u0026ndash;North America disjunct genera (10.08%). Principal component analysis (PCA) positioned Lutou centrally within the national subtropical transitional cluster, reflecting its unique biogeographic bridging role. Environmental data indicated that high annual precipitation (~\u0026thinsp;1,900 mm), moderate annual temperature (15\u0026deg;C), and a pronounced elevational gradient (124\u0026ndash;1,272 m) jointly drive strong microhabitat differentiation. Castanopsis eyrei evergreen broad-leaved forest was identified as the most mature and ecologically representative community type. Regional comparison across 16 subtropical mountain ranges in China revealed that the Mulianjiu Mountains harbor the highest narrow-endemic species richness and Weighted Endemism Index (WEI) density. We conclude that Lutou is a core floristic and evolutionary hub in the tropical\u0026ndash;temperate transition, where climate stability, topographic heterogeneity, and ecological maturity converge to sustain both relictual persistence and ongoing evolutionary diversification.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Floristic composition, phylogenetic diversity, and community assembly identify the Lutou Experimental Forest as a model subtropical hub in the tropical–temperate transition zone","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-13 18:03:08","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9056627/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-09T08:00:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-08T09:10:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-02T02:11:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"253992934004127713584079793342803350274","date":"2026-03-15T05:50:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"36140534696728477702908738723182388629","date":"2026-03-12T09:17:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"179399389646907390978841885664184660829","date":"2026-03-12T02:47:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-10T01:05:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T18:19:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-07T18:18:45+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Forestry Research","date":"2026-03-07T08:04:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"","identity":"journal-of-forestry-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Journal of Forestry Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"VoR Journals","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"71d4ed46-1eeb-446b-9fd0-7656952b6bf3","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-06T01:23:45+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-13 18:03:08","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9056627","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9056627","identity":"rs-9056627","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}