%0 Journal Article %A Yi-Li JIN %A Hao-Yan WANG %A Lin-Feng WEI %A Ying HOU %A Jing HU %A Kai WU %A Hao-Jun XIA %A Jie XIA %A Bo-Rui ZHOU %A Kai LI %A Jian NI %T A plot-based dataset of plant community on the Qingzang Plateau %D 2022 %R 10.17521/cjpe.2022.0174 %J Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology %P 846-854 %V 46 %N 7 %X

Plot-based data are an important foundation for studying plant community characteristics and compiling vegetation monographs, vegetation map, and vegegraphy. It is the key data source of studies in vegetation ecology. To understand the species composition, community characteristics, and distribution pattern of special plateau vegetation on the Qingzang Plateau (QZP), this study uses the data of 338 sites including 758 plots in different regions of the QZP from 2018 to 2021 to analyze the species composition, floristic characteristics, and vegetation classification of plateau plant communities. A plot-based dataset of plant community on the QZP is then established. The 758 plots have 837 plant species belonging to 279 genera from 65 families in the alpine and temperate vegetation communities. The largest number of species are found in five families: Asteraceae (134 species), Poaceae (88 species), Fabaceae (75 species), Rosaceae (43 species), and Cyperaceae (40 species), as well as five genera: Artemisia (29 species), Pedicularis (27 species), Saussurea (25 species), Astragalus (23 species), and Poa (23 species). The floristic composition is mainly temperate (145 genera) and cosmopolitan (36 genera). The growth forms of the species are mainly herbs (83.51%) and shrubs (10.87%), and the life forms of herbs and woody plants are mainly perennial herbs (88.23%) and deciduous shrubs (83.67%), respectively. A total of 338 sites can be divided into four vegetation formation groups, 10 vegetation formations, 20 vegetation subformations, 78 alliance groups, and 117 alliances, in which 34 are steppe alliances, 33 are meadow alliances, 33 are desert alliances, 14 are shrubland alliances, and 3 are coniferous forest alliances. This dataset covers most of the alpine shrubland, meadow, steppe, desert, and temperate steppe, desert vegetation regions of the QZP. This work provides a solid foundation for exploring the vegetation characteristics and regularity of vegetation zonal differentiation and determining the impacts of climate change and human disturbances on alpine vegetation and their ecological restoration. The dataset also provides a reference for the updating of the next generation of China's vegetation map.

%U https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2022.0174