Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2018, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (5): 550-561.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2017.0263

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Classification of plant associations based on a 20 hm2 dynamics plot of evergreen broad- leaved forest in Mt. Tiantong, Zhejiang, China

SUN Xiao-Wei,YANG Qing-Song,LIU He-Ming,WANG Xi-Hua()   

  1. Tiantong National Station for Forest Ecosystem Research, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
  • Received:2017-10-19 Revised:2018-05-07 Online:2018-05-20 Published:2018-07-20
  • Contact: Xi-Hua WANG
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Basic Research Priorities Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2015FY210200)

Abstract:

Aims Our objectives were to obtain typical plant association types in a 20 hm 2 forest dynamic monitoring plot in Mt. Tiantong, and provide methodological references for determining transitional types and identifying typical types in vegetation classification.

Methods We used two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) to remove transitional community and identify typical association types. DCA method was also used to analyze the relationship between the distributions of different plant associations and environmental variables.

Important findings The results showed that the classification of typical plant associations was greatly improved by the removal of transitional communities. The forest was divided into three associations: 1) Viburnum erosum- Ternstroemia gymnanthera/Lithocarpus harlandii + Cyclobalanopsis sessilifolia Association, 2) Daphniphyllum oldhami-Lithocarpus glaber/Schima superba + Castanopsis carlesii Association, and 3) Illicium lanceolatum- Phoebe sheareri/Choerospondias axillaries + Machilus leptophylla Association. The results of DCA revealed the importance of environmental variables (elevation, convexity, slope, and aspect) on spatial distribution of plant associations. Elevation and convexity had significant effects on the distribution of associations, while slope and aspect had weak effects. The results confirmed the high accuracy of the association classification we used.

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Key words: vegetation classification, transitional community, floristic composition, two-way indicator species analysis, detrended correspondence analysis, habitat, Mt. Tiantong