COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF GUTIANSHAN FOREST DYNAMIC PLOT IN A MID-SUBTROPICAL EVERGREEN BROAD-LEAVED FOREST, EAST CHINA

doi:10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2008.02.004

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Mainly distributed in China, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest is one of important vegetation types in the world. Here we report preliminary results of floristic characteristics, community composition, vertical structure, size class structure, and spatial structure of Gutianshan(GTS) forest plot.
Methods We established a 24-hm² (600 m×400 m) forest permanent plot from November, 2004 to September, 2005 in mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest of Gutianshan Nature Reserve, China. Following the standard census procedure of the Centre for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), all free-standing trees ≥1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) in the forest were mapped, tagged and identified to species. We employed software R 2.6.0 to analyze our data.
Important findings The results of floristic characteristics indicates that the tropical elements are more than temperate elements. At family level, the proportion of the pantropic type is the greatest (28.6%), the number of the tropic elements are more than temperate ones (24/13). At genus level,there are 53 tropic genera and 44 temperate ones. As for community composition, there are 159 species, 103 genera and 49 families, 140 700 individuals in total. The evergreen tree species in community are dominant (i.e. 91 species, total relative dominance is 90.6%, importance value is 85.6%, accounts for 85.9% of the total abundance). GTS forest plot is typical mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, which displays characteristics of both temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest and tropical rain forest. On the one hand, community composition has obvious dominant species, which is similar to temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest. There are 3 mostly dominant species, Castanopsis eyrei, Schima superba and Pinus massoniana. Large numbers of rare species (59 rare species, equal to or less than one tree per hm²) in the community account for 37.1% species richness, which is similar to tropical rain forest. Vertical structure is composed of canopy layer (63 species), sub-tree layer (70 species), shrub layer (26 species).The structure of DBH size class of all species in the plot generally appears reverse 'J' shape, which indicates successful community regeneration. Spatial distribution of several dominant species, from small to adult tree or old tree, shifts from closer aggregation to looser aggregation, and shows different habitat preference. Finally, we compare the large plot approach with conventional sampling method.

Key words: floristic characteristics, community composition, size class structure, spatial pattern, Gutianshan forest plot, evergreen broad-leaved forest

ZHU Yan, ZHAO Gu-Feng, ZHANG Li-Wen, SHEN Guo-Chun, MI Xiang-Cheng, REN Hai-Bao, YU Ming-Jian, CHEN Jian-Hua, CHEN Sheng-Wen, FANG Teng, MA Ke-Ping. COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF GUTIANSHAN FOREST DYNAMIC PLOT IN A MID-SUBTROPICAL EVERGREEN BROAD-LEAVED FOREST, EAST CHINA[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2008, 32(2): 262-273.

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Figures/Tables 9

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	分布区类型 Areal types	科数 No. of families	属数 No. of genura
热带	1.世界广布Cosmopolitan	12	2
Tropical (2~7)	2.泛热带Pantropic	14	22
	3.东亚及热带美洲间断East Asia & Tropical America disjuncted	6	5
	4.旧世界热带 Old world tropics	2	8
	5.热带亚洲及热带大洋洲Tropical Asia to Tropical Oceania	1	3
	6.热带亚洲及热带非洲 Tropical Asia to Tropical Africa	1	2
	7.热带亚洲 Tropical Asia	0	13
温带	8.北温带 North temperate zone	10	14
Temperate (8~14)	9.东亚及北美间断 East Asia & North America disjuncted	3	18
	13.中亚 Central Asia	0	1
	14.东亚 East Asia	0	11
	15.中国特有 Endemic to China	0	3

	分布区类型 Areal types	科数 No. of families	属数 No. of genura
热带	1.世界广布Cosmopolitan	12	2
Tropical (2~7)	2.泛热带Pantropic	14	22
	3.东亚及热带美洲间断East Asia & Tropical America disjuncted	6	5
	4.旧世界热带 Old world tropics	2	8
	5.热带亚洲及热带大洋洲Tropical Asia to Tropical Oceania	1	3
	6.热带亚洲及热带非洲 Tropical Asia to Tropical Africa	1	2
	7.热带亚洲 Tropical Asia	0	13
温带	8.北温带 North temperate zone	10	14
Temperate (8~14)	9.东亚及北美间断 East Asia & North America disjuncted	3	18
	13.中亚 Central Asia	0	1
	14.东亚 East Asia	0	11
	15.中国特有 Endemic to China	0	3

物种名 Species name	多度 Abundance	胸高断面积 Basal area (m²·hm^-2)	优势度 Dominance	重要值 Important value	垂直结构 Vertical structure
甜槠 Castanopsis eyrei	12 406	12.52	0.344	0.153	林冠层 Canopy layer
木荷 Schima superba	8 514	6.89	0.193	0.094	林冠层 Canopy layer
马尾松 Pinus massoniana	2 061	4.23	0.098	0.043	林冠层 Canopy layer
青冈 Cyclobalanopsis glauca	1 620	0.88	0.024	0.018	林冠层 Canopy layer
虎皮楠 Daphniphyllum oldhamii	2 718	0.79	0.019	0.021	林冠层 Canopy layer
红楠 Machilus thunbergii	1 384	0.76	0.02	0.016	林冠层 Canopy layer
细叶青冈 Cyclobalanopsis myrsinaefolia	375	0.59	0.016	0.009	林冠层 Canopy layer
短柄木包 Quercus serrata var. brevipetiolata	3 508	1.63	0.043	0.028	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
马银花 Rododendron ovatum	10 793	0.72	0.023	0.042	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
檵木 Loropetalum chinense	4 461	0.64	0.017	0.024	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
厚皮香 Ternstroemia gymnanthera	3 177	0.52	0.014	0.02	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
杨梅叶蚊母树 Distylium myricoides	3 468	0.45	0.014	0.017	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
柳叶蜡梅 Chimonanthus salicifolius	7 835	0.09	0.003	0.028	灌木层 Shrub layer
窄基红褐柃 Eurya rubiginosa var. attenuate	2 770	0.03	0.001	0.015	灌木层 Shrub layer
石斑木 Raphiolepis indica	1 995	0.02	0.001	0.012	灌木层 Shrub layer

物种名 Species name	多度 Abundance	胸高断面积 Basal area (m²·hm^-2)	优势度 Dominance	重要值 Important value	垂直结构 Vertical structure
甜槠 Castanopsis eyrei	12 406	12.52	0.344	0.153	林冠层 Canopy layer
木荷 Schima superba	8 514	6.89	0.193	0.094	林冠层 Canopy layer
马尾松 Pinus massoniana	2 061	4.23	0.098	0.043	林冠层 Canopy layer
青冈 Cyclobalanopsis glauca	1 620	0.88	0.024	0.018	林冠层 Canopy layer
虎皮楠 Daphniphyllum oldhamii	2 718	0.79	0.019	0.021	林冠层 Canopy layer
红楠 Machilus thunbergii	1 384	0.76	0.02	0.016	林冠层 Canopy layer
细叶青冈 Cyclobalanopsis myrsinaefolia	375	0.59	0.016	0.009	林冠层 Canopy layer
短柄木包 Quercus serrata var. brevipetiolata	3 508	1.63	0.043	0.028	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
马银花 Rododendron ovatum	10 793	0.72	0.023	0.042	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
檵木 Loropetalum chinense	4 461	0.64	0.017	0.024	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
厚皮香 Ternstroemia gymnanthera	3 177	0.52	0.014	0.02	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
杨梅叶蚊母树 Distylium myricoides	3 468	0.45	0.014	0.017	亚乔木层 Subtree layer
柳叶蜡梅 Chimonanthus salicifolius	7 835	0.09	0.003	0.028	灌木层 Shrub layer
窄基红褐柃 Eurya rubiginosa var. attenuate	2 770	0.03	0.001	0.015	灌木层 Shrub layer
石斑木 Raphiolepis indica	1 995	0.02	0.001	0.012	灌木层 Shrub layer