Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology >
PERSPECTIVES ON SMALL-SCALE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF PLANT SPECIES IN PLANT COMMUNITIES
Received date: 2004-12-26
Accepted date: 2005-06-08
Online published: 2005-09-30
Small-scale spatial structure of plant species is important in plant ecology as it affects the dynamics of plant populations, communities and ecosystem processes. Plants interact primarily with their immediate neighbors, and the view of the community as seen by an individual plant can be quite different from processes averaged over large spatial scales. Many processes influence the formation and dynamics of small-scale spatial structures of plant species, and local spatial structure in turn has an effect on the vital processes of plant growth, birth and death. This paper summarizes developments in this area of research based on the extensive literature on small-scale spatial structure of plant species to help direct further research efforts. Firstly, this paper introduces six factors that lead to the formation of small-scale spatial structure of plant species, including 1) habitat spatial heterogeneity, 2) dispersal of propagules, 3) interactions between plants, 4) effects of the biological environment (animals and microbes), 5) effects of exoteric disturbances, and 6) the integrated effects of many factors. The significance and effects of small-scale spatial structure on studies of biological diversity, plant population genetics and restoration ecology are then examined. Finally, several questions were raised and a list of suggested areas of future research on this topic were presented that included: 1) Information on small-scale spatial structure should be integrated into vegetation dynamics at large scales; 2) Either biologically or ecologically, the research about small-scale spatial structure of vegetation should focus on plants, make certain the adequate scale and adopt correct spatial statistical methods; 3) The practical implications of small-scale spatial structure for degraded ecosystems should be highly taken into account; 4) Integration of whole community characteristics should begin with local patterns on small scales; and 5) Small-scale spatial structure should be combined with traditional mean-field theory in order to deeply explore plant community dynamics.
Key words： Plant species; Small scale; Spatial structure; Mean-field assumption
LIU Zhen-Guo, LI Zhen-Qing . PERSPECTIVES ON SMALL-SCALE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF PLANT SPECIES IN PLANT COMMUNITIES[J]. Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology, 2005 , 29(6) : 1020 -1028 . DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2005.0135
| [1] | Abe S, Masaki T, Nakashizuka T (1995). Factors influencing sapling composition in canopy gaps of a temperate deciduous forest. Vegetatio, 120,21-32. |
| [2] | Aston JL, Bradshaw AD (1966). Evolution in closely adjacent plant populations. II. Agrostis stolonifera in maritime habitats. Heredity, 21,649-664. |
| [3] | Augspurge CK (1984). Seedling survival of tropical tree species: interactions of dispersal distance, light gaps, and pathogens. Ecology, 65,1705-1712. |
| [4] | Baldocci D, Collineau S (1994). The physical nature of solar radiation in heterogeneous canopy:spatial and temporal attributes. In: Caldwell MM, Pearcy RW eds. Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity by Plants. Academic Press, New York. |
| [5] | Barik SK, Pandey HN, Tripathi RS, Rao P (1992). Microenvironment variability and species diversity in treefall gaps in a subtropical broadleaved forest. Vegetatio, 103,31-40. |
| [6] | Blackman GE (1935). A study by statistic methods of the distribution of species in grassland association. Annals of Botany, 49,749-777. |
| [7] | Bolker BM, Pacala SW (1999). Spatial moment equations for plant competition: understanding spatial strategies and the advantages of short dispersal. The American Naturalist, 153,575-602. |
| [8] | Bromley J, Brouwer J, Barker AP, Gaze S, Valentin C (1997). The role of surface water redistribution in an area of patterned vegetation in a semi-arid environment, South-West Niger. Journal of Hydrology, 198,1-29. |
| [9] | Brooker RW, Callaghan TV (1998). The balance between positive and negative plant interactions and its relationship to environmental gradients: a model. Oikos, 81,196-207. |
| [10] | Cao GX (操国兴), Zhong ZC (钟章成), Liu Y (刘芸), Xie DT (谢德体) (2003). The study of distribution pattern of Camellia rosthorniana population in Jinyun mountain. Journal of Biology (生物学杂志), 20,10-12. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [11] | Carlsson BA, Callaghan TV (1991). Positive plant interactions in tundra vegetation and the importance of shelter. Journal of Ecology, 79,973-983. |
| [12] | Chen P (陈鹏), Chu Y (初雨), Gu FX (顾峰雪), Zhang YD (张远东), Pan XL (潘晓玲) (2003). Spatial heterogeneity of vegetation and soil characteristics in oasis-desert ecotone. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology (应用生态学报), 14,904-908. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [13] | Chen YF (陈玉福), Yu FH (于飞海), Dong M (董鸣) (2000). Spatial heterogeneity of the psammophytic half-shrub community in Mu Us Sandland. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 20,568-572. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [14] | de Blois S, Domon G, Bouchard A (2002). Landscape issues in plant ecology. Ecography, 25,244-256. |
| [15] | Ennos RA (2001). Inferences about spatial processes in plant populations from the analysis of molecular markers. In: Silvertown J, Antonovics J eds. Integrating Ecology and Evolution in a Spatial Context. Blackwell, Oxford,45-73. |
| [16] | Ferrière R, Le Galliard JF (2000). Invasion fitness and adaptive dynamics in spatial population models. In: Clobert J, Nichols JD, Danchin E, Dhondt A eds. Causes, Consequences and Mechanisms of Dispersal at the Individual, Population and Community Level. Oxford University Press,Oxford, UK. |
| [17] | Fowler N (1988). The effects of environmental heterogeneity in space and time on the regulation of population and communities. In: Davy AJ, Hutchjins MJ, Watkingson AR eds. Plant Population Ecology. Blackwell, Oxford,36-47. |
| [18] | Frankland JC, Ovington JD, Marcrae C (1963). Spatial and seasonal variation in soil, litter and vegetation in some Lake District woods. Journal of Ecology, 51,97-112. |
| [19] | Garner W, Steinberger Y (1989). A proposed mechanism for the formation of "Fertile Island" in the desert ecosystem. Journal of Arid Environment, 16,257-262. |
| [20] | Grei-Smith P (1987). Quantitative Plant Ecology. Butterworths, London. |
| [21] | Hamilton WD, May RM (1977). Dispersal in stable habitats. Nature, 269,578-581. |
| [22] | Harper JL (1977). Population Biology of Plants. Academic press, London. |
| [23] | Holzapfel C, Mahall BE (1999). Bidirectional facilitation and interference between shrubs and annuls in the Mojave Desert. Ecology, 80,1747-1761. |
| [24] | Huang ZW (黄志伟), Peng M (彭敏), Chen GC (陈桂琛), Shi P (史萍), Zhou GY (周国英) (2001). The spatial distribution patterns and dynamics of some wetland dominant plants of the Qinghai Lake. Chinese Journal of Applied and Environmental Biology (应用与环境生物学报), 7,113-116. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [25] | Hutchings MJ, Price ACP (1993). Does physiological integration enable clonal herbs to integrate the effects of environmental heterogeneity? Plant Species Biology, 8,159-238. |
| [26] | Isagi Y, Kanazashi T, Suzuki W, Tanaka H, Abe T (2000). Microsatellite analysis of the regeneration process of Magnolia obavata Thumb. Heredity, 84,143-151. |
| [27] | Jackson RB, Caldwell MM (1993). The scale of nutrient heterogeneity around individual plants and its quantification with geostatistics. Ecology, 74,612-614. |
| [28] | Jeltsch F, Milton SJ, Dean WRJ, van Rooyen N (1997). Simulation pattern formation around artificial waterholes in the semiarid Kalahari. Journal of Vegetation Science, 8,177-188. |
| [29] | Jonathan HT, Robert SN, Stanley DS (2002). Soil resources heterogeneity in the Mojave Desert. Journal of Arid Environments, 3,269-292. |
| [30] | Kalisz S, Hanzawa FM, Tonsor SJ, Thiede DA, Voigt S (1999). Ant-mediated seed dispersal alters pattern of relatedness in a population of Trillium grandiflorum. Ecology, 80,2620-2634. |
| [31] | Kellner K, Bosch OJH (1992). Influence of patch formation in determing the stocking rate for southern African grasslands. Journal of Arid Environments, 22,99-105. |
| [32] | Kelly VR, Canham CD (1992). Resource heterogeneity in old fields. Journal of Vegetation Science, 3,545-552. |
| [33] | Kershaw KA, Looney JH (1985). Quantitative and Dynamic Ecology. Edward Arnold, London. |
| [34] | Kieft KL, White CS, Loftin SR, Aguilar R, Craig JA, Skaar DA (1998). Temporal dynamics in soil carbon and nitrogen resources at a grassland-shrubland ecotone. Ecology, 79,671-683. |
| [35] | Krahulec F, Agnew ADQ, Agnew S, Willems JH (1990). Spatial Processes in Plant Communities. Academia, Prague. |
| [36] | Law R, Diechmann U, Metz JAJ (2000). Introduction. In: Dieckmann U, Law R, Metz JAJ eds. The Geometry of Ecological Interactions: Simplifying Spatial Complexity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,1-6. |
| [37] | Levene H (1953). Genetic equilibrium when more than one ecological niche is available. The American Naturalist, 87,311-313. |
| [38] | Levin SA (1992). The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology, 73,1943-1967. |
| [39] | Li GC (李贵才), He YT (何永涛), Han XG (韩兴国) (2003). Features of gaps of middle mountain moist evergreen broad-leaved forest in Ailao Mountain. Chinese Journal of Ecology (生态学杂志), 22,13-17. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [40] | Liu ZG (刘振国), Li ZQ (李镇清) (2004). Fine-scale spatial pattern of Artemisia frigida population under different grazing intensities. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 24,227-234. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [41] | Liu ZG (刘振国), Li ZQ (李镇清) (2005). Fine-scale spatial pattern of Cleistogenes squarrosa population under different grazing intensities. Acta Prataculturae Sinica (草业学报), 14,11-17. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [42] | Liu ZM (刘志民), Zhao XY (赵晓英), Liu XM (刘新民) (2002). Relationship between disturbance and vegetation. Acta Prataculturae Sinica (草业学报), 11,1-9. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [43] | Mack RN, Harper JL (1977). Interference in dune annuals: spatial pattern and neighbourhood effects. Journal of Ecology, 65,345-363. |
| [44] | Mahdi A, Law R (1987). On the spatial organization of plant species in a limestone grassland. Journal of Ecology, 75,459-476. |
| [45] | Molofsky J (1999). The effect of nutrients and spacing on neighbor relations in Cardamine pensylvanica. Oikos, 84,506-514. |
| [46] | Pacala SW, Silander JA (1990). Field tests of neighborhood population dynamic models of two annual weed species. Ecological Monographs, 60,113-134. |
| [47] | Packer A, Clay K (2000). Soil pathogens and spatial patterns of seedling mortality in a temperate forest. Nature, 404,278-281. |
| [48] | Purves DW, Law R (2002). Fine-scale spatial structure in a grassland community: quantifying the plant's view. Journal of Ecology, 90,121-129. |
| [49] | Qian YB (钱亦兵), Wu ZN (吴兆宁), Jiang J (蒋进), Zhang LY (张立运), Shi QD (师庆东) (2004). Impact of soil physical-chemical properties on diversity of desert plant communities diversity in agricultural development area of Kelamayi. Arid Zone Research (干旱区研究), 20(Suppl.),74-81. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [50] | Rainey PB, Travasino M (1998). Adaptive radiation in a heterogeneous environment. Nature, 394,69-72. |
| [51] | Rees M, Grubb PJ, Kelly D (1996). Quantifying the impact of competition and spatial heterogeneity on the structure and dynamics of a four-species guild of winter annuals. The American Naturalist, 147,1-32. |
| [52] | Schlesinger WH, Raikes JA, Hartley AE, Cross AF (1996). On the spatial pattern of soil nutrients in desert ecosystem. Ecology, 77,364-374. |
| [53] | Schlesinger WH, Reynolds JF, Cunningham GL, Huenneke LF, Jarrell WM, Virginia RA, Whitford WG (1990). Biological feedbacks in global desertification. Science, 47,1043-1048. |
| [54] | Shen ZH (沈泽昊) (2002). A multi-scale study on the vegetation-environment relationship of a mountain forest transect. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 22,461-470. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [55] | Shen ZH (沈泽昊), Zhang XS (张新时), Jin YX (金义兴) (2000). Spatial pattern analysis and topographical interpretation of species diversity in the forests of Dalaoling in the region of the Tree Gorgaes. Acta Botanica Sinica (植物学报), 42,620-627. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [56] | Silander JA, Pacala SW (1985). Neighborhood predictors of plant performance. Oecologia, 66,256-263. |
| [57] | Silvertown J, Law R (1987). Do plants need niches? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2,24-26. |
| [58] | Stohlgren TJ (1998). Comparison of rangeland vegetating sampling techniques in the control grasslands. Journal of Range Management, 51,164-172. |
| [59] | Stoll P, Prati D (2001). Intraspecific aggregation alters competitive interactions in experimental plant communities. Ecology, 82,319-327. |
| [60] | Stoll P, Weiner J (2000). A neighbourhood view of interactions among individual plants. In: Diechmann U, Law R, Metz JAJ eds. The Geometry of Ecological Interactions: Simplifying Spatial Complexity. Cambridge University Press, Cambrdge, UK,11-27. |
| [61] | Stowe LG, Wade MJ (1979). The detection of small-scale pattern in vegetation. Journal of Ecology, 67,1047-1064. |
| [62] | Su ZY (苏志尧), Wu DR (吴大荣), Chen BG (陈北光) (2000). Structure and spatial pattern dynamics of dominant populations in a natural forest in north Guangdong Provice. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology (应用生态学报), 11,337-341. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [63] | Thiery JM, Herbes MD, Valentin C (1995). A model simulating the genesis of banded vegetation patterns in Niger. Journal of Ecology, 83,497-507. |
| [64] | van Baalen M, Rand DA (1998). The unit of selection in visous populations and the evolution of altruism. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 193,631-648. |
| [65] | van der Hoeven EC, de Kroon H, During HJ (1990). Fine-scale spatial distribution of leaves and shoots of two chalk grassland perennials. Vegetatio, 86,151-160. |
| [66] | van Dorp D, van den Hoek WPA, Daleboudt C (1996). Seed dispersal capacity of six perennial grassland species measured in a wind tunnel at varying wind speed and height. Canadian Journal of Botany, 74,1956-1963. |
| [67] | van Rijnberk H, During H (1990). Bryophyte pattern and dynamics in Dutch chalk grassland.In: Krahulec F, Agnew ADQ, Agnew S, Willems JH eds. Spatial Processes in Plant Communities. Academia, Prague,161-172. |
| [68] | Wang GH (王国宏), Ren JZ (任继周), Zhang ZH (张自和) (2001). A study on the population diversity of plant community in Hexi mountain-oasis-desert area. Ⅰ. General features. Acta Prataculturae Sinica (草业学报), 10,1-12. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [69] | Weiner J (1985). Size hierarchies in experimental populations of annual plants. Ecology, 66,743-752. |
| [70] | Weiner J (1990). Asymmetric competition in plant populations. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 5,360-364. |
| [71] | Xiao DN (肖笃宁), Bu RC (布仁仓), Li XZ (李秀珍) (1997). Spatial ecology and landscape heterogeneity. Acta Ecologica Sinica (生态学报), 17,453-461. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [72] | Xie JY (谢佳彦), Deng ZP (邓志平) (2003). Spatial pattern and size structure of Castanopsis castanopsis population in Wuyun Mountain. Chinese Journal of Ecology (生态学杂志), 22,35-39. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [73] | Xin XP (辛晓平), Yang ZY (杨正宇), Tian XZ (田新智), Gao Q (高琼) (2000). Patch dynamics of alkaline Leymus Chinensis grassland under grazed and ungrazed conditions. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica (植物生态学报), 24,656-661. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [74] | Yang LM (杨利民), Han M (韩梅), Li JD (李建东), Zhou GS (周广胜) (2000). Impact of distribution of plant flowering phase on species diversity in grassland community. Journal of Jilin Agricultural University (吉林农业大学学报), 22,55-58. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [75] | Yang LM (杨利民), Han M (韩梅), Zhou GS (周广胜), Wang YH (王玉辉) (2002). Studies on the maintaining mechanism of species diversity of grassland community. Ⅲ. Species distribution pattern. Journal of Jilin Agricultural University (吉林农业大学学报), 24,58-61. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [76] | Yang LM (杨利民), Zhou GS (周广胜), Wang GH (王国宏) (2001). Investigating realized niches as a mechanism of species diversity maintenance in a species-rich grassland community. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica (植物生态学报), 25,634-638. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [77] | Ye WH (叶万辉) (2000). The maintenance mechanism of plant community and its species diversity. Chinese Biodiversity (生物多样性), 8,17-24. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
| [78] | Zhang WG (张卫国), Huang WB (黄文冰), Yang ZY (杨振宇) (2003). The study on the relationship between mini-patch and degradation of pasture. Acta Prataculturae Sinica (草地学报), 12,44-50. (in Chinese with English abstract) |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |
Copyright © 2026 Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology
Tel: 010-62836134, 62836138, E-mail: apes@ibcas.ac.cn, cjpe@ibcas.ac.cn
