Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2008, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (3): 568-573.DOI: 10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2008.03.005

• Original article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

DCCA ANALYSIS OF PLANT SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS IN DIFFERENT STRATA OF OAK (QUERCUS LIAOTUNGENSIS) FOREST ALONG AN ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT IN DONGLING MOUNTAIN, CHINA

FENG Yun1,2(), MA Ke-Ming1,*, ZHANG Yu-Xin1,2, QI Jian1,2   

  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
    2Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2007-08-06 Accepted:2007-11-06 Online:2008-08-06 Published:2008-05-30
  • Contact: MA Ke-Ming

Abstract:

Aims Our objective was to study the relationship between plant species and environmental factors for different strata of a Quercus liaotungensis forest along an altitudinal gradient in Dongling Mountain, Beijing, China.

Methods We collected 119 vegetation samples separately in the tree, shrub and herb layers along an altitudinal gradient and recorded environmental factors such as altitude and slope inclination and position. We used detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA; CANOCO 4.5) to determine the main environmental factors related to the distribution of plant communities.

Important findings The DCCA axis 1 reflected the gradient in altitude, while axis 2 reflected slope position. Most species occurred at lower altitude. Species in the tree layer were distributed uniformly. A big overlap in the composition of the herb layer indicated that the microenvironment for species was similar. Species diversity increased from high to low altitude. According to the correlations among environment factors and results of the DCCA ordination, the most important factor affecting species distribution in this region was altitude.

Key words: distribution, DCCA, axis, gradient