Establishment of Fitted Models for Topographical Factors and Coexisting Plants Influencing Distribution of Natural Wild Jujube

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper deals with an interesting topic of assessing ecological factors, which can influence the distribution of Natural Wild Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa). This plant also has a wide and relevant importance in the medicine, that justify the great amount of data for phytochemical analysis, and economic assessments.

The A. focused their study on data modeling of altitude, slope aspect, slope position, slope degree and coexisting plants that affect wild jujube growth.

However, I am surprised that some relevant ecological factors, such are bioclimatic variations among the different stations (in an area of more than 3500 kmq!!) and pedological characteristics, are not considered in the statistical evaluations (they are considered only in the final discussion). An ecological model always arises from a wide analysis of all the influencing factors. Then, such factors should be included in more comprehensive statistical analysis, otherwise the obtained results loosen their ecological interest. 

The A. say that the plant can occur in a wide variation of ecological conditions, giving example of extreme ranges, but if this plant can grow in very different conditions, the question of its preferentiality become weaker... Even if a plant can have a wide tolerance some factors can be compensative and other can become more stressful. 

Furthermore, as a method of investigation, why don’t use the well-consolidated phytosociological methods of the Zurigo-Montpellier studies (Braun-Blanquet school), which permits comparisons among other investigated areas? When analysing “Plant species which are significantly related to the distribution of wild jujube (Table 1) such analysis could show more clearly the relationship.

The A. must justify the reason of the selection of the adopted method, which cold allow reaching more robust results, and not only correlation which consider only the presence of species.

The phrase “In order to facilitate statistical analyses, the continuous data such as altitude, slope degree and numbers of wild jujube, Vitex negundo var. heterophylla and etc. are grouped” is unclear. Why mixing topographic variables with other species occurrence?

3. Results (formatting mistakes)

Some data such as occurrence probability (A) and density (B) of wild jujube and altitude is not a novelty, see: Guanghua Zhao, Xinyue Cui, Jiejie Sun, Tingting Li, Qi Wang, Xingzhuang Ye, Baoguo Fan, Analysis of the distribution pattern of Chinese Ziziphus jujuba under climate change based on optimized biomod2 and MaxEnt models, Ecological Indicators,Volume 132,2021,108256,ISSN 1470-160X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108256.

In Discussion I suggest other stronger references for ecology of plants.

 

Minor revision

Speranskiae Tuberculatae is Speranskiae tuberculatae

Considering such methodological lacks, I suggest a major revision of the paper.

 

Author Response

Question 1.The A. focused their study on data modeling of altitude, slope aspect, slope position, slope degree and coexisting plants that affect wild jujube growth. However, I am surprised that some relevant ecological factors, such are bioclimatic variations among the different stations (in an area of more than 3500 kmq!!) and pedological characteristics, are not considered in the statistical evaluations (they are considered only in the final discussion). An ecological model always arises from a wide analysis of all the influencing factors. Then, such factors should be included in more comprehensive statistical analysis, otherwise the obtained results loosen their ecological interest. 

Response: Wild jujube is widely distributed in Songhua and Liaohe River Basin, Haihe River Basin, Huaihe River Basin, Yellow River Basin, Yangtze River Basin, Pearl River Basin, Southeast Basin, Southwest Basin, Continental Basin (see: Zhao, G.;  Cui, X.;  Sun, J.;  Li, T.;  Wang, Q.;  Ye, X.; Fan, B., Analysis of the distribution pattern of Chinese Ziziphus jujuba under climate change based on optimized biomod2 and MaxEnt models. Ecological Indicators 2012, 132, 108256. ). environmental factors, such as climate and soil, have an impact on the distribution of wild jujube. Liu studied the temperature, precipitation, soil and other environmental factors suitable for the growth of wild jujube (see LIU A. Suitable Ecological Regionalization of Ziziphi Spinosae Semen in the Hebei Province [D]. Shijiazhuang; Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, 2019.), Wang et al. predicted the distribution of jujube according to climate change (see: WANG F, SUN X, DONG J, et al. A primary study of breeding system of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa [J]. Scientific Reports, 2021, 11(1): 10318). However, there is no report on the study of the topographical factors and coexisting plants of jujube growth. The focus of this study is the impact of topographical factors and coexisting plants on the distribution of jujube. It is well known that in a specific area, the microenvironment has a more direct impact on the distribution of plants. Topographical factors and coexisting plants are the microenvironments that affect the distribution of wild jujube.

 

Question 2.The A. say that the plant can occur in a wide variation of ecological conditions, giving example of extreme ranges, but if this plant can grow in very different conditions, the question of its preferentiality become weaker... Even if a plant can have a wide tolerance some factors can be compensative and other can become more stressful. 

Response: Xingtai is rich in wild jujube resources, and also the main planting area of wild jujube. The focus of this study is to find the topographical factors that affect the growth of wild jujube, so as to provide support for the large-scale planting of wild jujube in Xingtai and provide theoretical support for the planting of wild jujube in other same or similar regions. By analyzing the distribution of natural wild jujube at different altitude, slope direction, slope degree and slope position, we know that wild jujube belongs to drought-tolerant and light-loving plants. When the four environmental factors, such as altitude, slope direction, slope, and slope position change greatly, the distribution of natural wild jujube will not necessarily change significantly with the four environment factors, or will be distributed in a specific range of the four environment factors. As long as the habitat conditions meet the requirements of wild jujube for drought and long light, wild jujube will be distributed in such habitat conditions. Wild jujube grows slowly, the growth rate of natural wild jujube is lower than that of other plants in areas with good habitat conditions. In poor habitat conditions, the drought resistance of wild jujube shows its advantages. Water stress further led to the decline of photosynthetic efficiency of natural wild jujube, and long light may be the compensation for water stress.

 

Question 3. Furthermore, as a method of investigation, why don’t use the well-consolidated phytosociological methods of the Zurigo-Montpellier studies (Braun-Blanquet school), which permits comparisons among other investigated areas? When analysing “Plant species which are significantly related to the distribution of wild jujube (Table 1) such analysis could show more clearly the relationship. The A. must justify the reason of the selection of the adopted method, which could allow reaching more robust results, and not only correlation which consider only the presence of species.

Response: During our field survey, the survey team members were not clear about the purpose of the survey, and only set up the invesgation quadrats in places with rich plants, so invesgation quadrats did not fully satisfy with the requirements of Zurigo Montpellier's plant sociology, so it was inappropriate to use plant sociology for data analysis. The data model method is used to analyze the relationship between other plants and natural wild jujube one by one, so that it is easier to understand the correlation and mathematical relationship type between the coexisting plants and wild jujube, which would lay a foundation for further research on biological mechanism. In addition, The analytical method to study the coexisting plants is the same as that used to study the altitude, slope aspect, slope degree and slope position, which is easy for readers to understand.

 

Question 4. The phrase “In order to facilitate statistical analyses, the continuous data such as altitude, slope degree and numbers of wild jujube, Vitex negundo var. heterophylla and etc. are grouped” is unclear. Why mixing topographic variables with other species occurrence?

Response: In the manuscript, we conduct different processing according to the data type. Among our survey data, the data of altitude, slope degree and the number of wild jujube and other plants are continuous, while the data of slope aspect and slope position are discrete, for example, the data of slope aspect are southern, northern, northern, western, southern and southern. When analyzing the data, it is found that after the continuous data (altitude, slope degree and the number of wild jujube and other plants) grouped, the data would better be conformed to the relevant data model.

 

Question 5: Results (formatting mistakes)

Response: I have added a carriage return above “3. results”.

 

Question 6. Some data such as occurrence probability (A) and density (B) of wild jujube and altitude is not a novelty, see: Guanghua Zhao, Xinyue Cui, Jiejie Sun, Tingting Li, Qi Wang, Xingzhuang Ye, Baoguo Fan, Analysis of the distribution pattern of Chinese Ziziphus jujuba under climate change based on optimized biomod2 and MaxEnt models, Ecological Indicators,Volume 132,2021,108256,ISSN 1470-160X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108256.

In Discussion I suggest other stronger references for ecology of plants.

Response: I appreciate the reviewer for giving me the paper and I have quoted this document in the preface (page2, line 9, [15], see attachment).

Question 7. Minor revision Speranskiae Tuberculatae is Speranskiae tuberculatae

Response: “Speranskiae Tuberculatae” has been modified as “Speranskiae tuberculatae”.( see attachment)

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper is the first report on the topographical factors and coexisting plants that affect the distribution of wild jujube, which is highly innovative. The data in this manuscript comes from the field survey. This study presented useful data for wild jujube forestation and interesting interpretations, with clear logic and credible conclusion. So I feel that this paper could be accepted after a minor revision.

1.Page 4, line 6, “b indicate the degree” should be modified as “b and c indicate the degree”.

2. Page 5, line1~2, “Fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (A) and density (B) of wild jujube and altitude” should be described as “Scatter plot (A) of wild jujube numbers at various altitude and fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (B) and density (C) of wild jujube and altitude ”.

3. Page 5, line 8, “in equation (2)” should be modified as “in equation (Figure 2)”.

4. Page 10, line 8, “[154.42790.22] and [426.82735.66]” should be modified as “[154.42, 790.22] and [426.82, 735.66] ”.

5. Page 10, line 20, “jujube distribution” should be modified as “wild jujube distribution”.

6. Page 10, line 20, “by those meteorological factors” should be modified as “only by altitude”.

Author Response

Question 1.Page 4, line 6, “b indicate the degree” should be modified as “b and c indicate the degree”.

Response: Page 4, line 6, “b indicate the degree” has been modified as “b and c indicate the degree”.

 

Question 2. Page 5, line1~2, “Fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (A) and density (B) of wild jujube and altitude” should be described as “Scatter plot (A) of wild jujube numbers at various altitude and fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (B) and density (C) of wild jujube and altitude ”.

Response: Page 5, line1~2, “Fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (A) and density (B) of wild jujube and altitude” has been replaced as “Scatter plot (A) of wild jujube numbers at various altitude and fitted GaussAmp models of occurrence probability (B) and density (C) of wild jujube and altitude ”.

 

Question 3. Page 5, line 8, “in equation (2)” should be modified as “in equation (Figure 2)”.

Response: Page 5, line 8, “in equation (2)” has been replaced as “in equation (Figure 2)”

 

Question 4.Page 10, line 8, “[154.42790.22] and [426.82735.66]” should be modified as “[154.42, 790.22] and [426.82, 735.66] ”.

Response: Page 10, line 8, “[154.42790.22] and [426.82735.66]” has been modified as “[154.42, 790.22] and [426.82, 735.66] ”.

 

Question 5.Page 10, line 20, “jujube distribution” should be modified as “wild jujube distribution”.

Response: Page 10, line 20, “jujube distribution” has been modified as “wild jujube distribution”.

 

Question 6.Page 10, line 20, “by those meteorological factors” should be modified as “only by altitude”.

Response: Page 10, line 20, “by those meteorological factors” has been replaced as “only by altitude”.

Question 3. Page 5, line 8, “in equation (2)” should be modified as “in equation (Figure 2)”.

Response: Page 5, line 8, “in equation (2)” has been replaced as “in equation (Figure 2)”

 

Question 4. Page 10, line 8, “[154.42790.22] and [426.82735.66]” should be modified as “[154.42, 790.22] and [426.82, 735.66] ”.

Response: Page 10, line 8, “[154.42790.22] and [426.82735.66]” has been modified as “[154.42, 790.22] and [426.82, 735.66] ”.

 

Question 5. Page 10, line 20, “jujube distribution” should be modified as “wild jujube distribution”.

Response: Page 10, line 20, “jujube distribution” has been modified as “wild jujube distribution”.

 

Question 6. Page 10, line 20, “by those meteorological factors” should be modified as “only by altitude”.

Response: Page 10, line 20, “by those meteorological factors” has been replaced as “only by altitude”.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

I can agree in utility of some parts of the investigations, but the A. didn't answer sufficiently to the Reviewer suggestions.

Some observations the I made, should be considered in the text and commented. The answers done are not totally adequate, and the A. should show the limitation of their approach from an ecological point of view in the text.

Indeed, an ecological factor cannot be analysed separately from the others, and the ecological approach must be comprehensive, showing the wide interactions among the factors. One parameter can be balanced by others and such element should be stressed.

 

 

 

Author Response

Question: I can agree in utility of some parts of the investigations, but the A. didn't answer sufficiently to the Reviewer suggestions. Some observations the I made, should be considered in the text and commented. The answers done are not totally adequate, and the A. should show the limitation of their approach from an ecological point of view in the text. Indeed, an ecological factor cannot be analysed separately from the others, and the ecological approach must be comprehensive, showing the wide interactions among the factors. One parameter can be balanced by others and such element should be stressed. Response: I am very grateful for the patient enlightenment of the reviewer. Topographical factors (altitude, slope aspect, slope position, slope degree) play a comprehensive role in the distribution of natural wild jujube, and each topographical factor might interact with each other. Therefore, the role of various factors should be comprehensively analyzed, not only a single factor. Although the research method used in the manuscript does not comprehensively analyze the role of multiple factors, the method can independently model the impact of various topographical factors on the distribution of natural wild jujube, and has achieved good fitting results. So, in page12, line 11, a comment is supplemented, “However, it is worth noting that due to the unique advantages of the model method in the analysis of single factors, this study only studied the impact of different topographical factors on the distribution of natural wild jujube, but did not explore the interaction between these factors. In fact, there might be interaction among these factors, and the topographical factors play a comprehensive role in the distribution of jujube, which requires us to do more in-depth research” (see attachment). In addition, in page10, line 18, a comment is supplemented, “Based on this, we can also make a reasonable speculation that climate warming will make the distribution area of natural wild jujube migrate to high altitude and high latitude areas, which is consistent with Zhao et al.’s research results [15]” (see attachment).

Author Response File: Author Response.docx