Elevational Pattern of Leaf Mine Diversity on Quercus variabilis Blume at Baotianman, Henan, China

Simple Summary The patterns and causes of biodiversity variations along environmental gradients are hot topics for ecologists and biogeographers. Leaf miners are the specific insect guild that feed and live inside plant leaves. Although altitudinal diversity trends have been studied for many insect groups, few scientists have focused on the elevational diversity pattern of leaf-mining insects. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the elevational distribution of leaf miners in China. Moreover, all previous work on the elevational change of leaf miners only focused on their abundance or species richness, without further analyses on their diversity indices, especially on phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity. The diversity of the leaf-mining insects on one dominant oak species in Central China was thus investigated through Hill numbers. The oak species hosted rich leaf miner species, and different leaf miners showed different elevational preferences. Most diversity metrics of leaf miners generally followed hump-shaped mid-peak elevational patterns. The species composition and diversity pattern of leaf miners on dominant trees in China are poorly understood. Using Hill-based diversity metrics, the elevational patterns of taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity for leaf miners on Quercus variabilis Blume at Baotianman were systematically analyzed. Leaf mine types belonged to ten genera and seven families. Different leaf miners had different elevational preferences. Most taxonomic and phylogenetic Hill diversity indices had typical hump-shaped elevational patterns, with a peak at the middle elevation of approximately 875 m. No functional Hill diversity indices presented significant linear or nonlinear trends with altitude. The driving factors behind the elevational distribution patterns of leaf miners require further work.

Automated summary

The elevational diversity patterns of leaf-mining insects in China have been poorly understood. In this study, the diversity of leaf miners on a specific oak species was investigated using Hill numbers. The results showed hump-shaped elevational patterns for most diversity metrics. Further research is needed to identify the driving factors behind the elevational distribution of leaf miners.