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Chinese Journal of Ecology ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (11): 3512-3522.doi: 10.13292/j.1000-4890.202111.022

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Interspecific association of main species in shrub layer of Pinus tabuliformis aerial seeding forest and the environmental interpretation.

CHEN Jia-hui, BU Yuan-kun, SU Shao-feng, HUANG Wei, CHEN Zhou-juan, LI Wei-zhong*   

  1. The interspecific association and niche characteristics of species reflect the utilization of resources and the horizontal spatial configurations of species, which is fundamental for understanding community structure and distribution. In this study, we used quadrat-sampling method to investigate the shrub communities of 150 quadrats in 30 plots of aerial-seeding Pinus tabuliformis forest in Danfeng County, Shaanxi. We examined the interspecific associations based on the variance ratio (VR), χ2 test, and association coefficient (AC), explored the relationship between environmental factors and species distribution using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), and analyzed the structure and distribution characteristics of the shrub community. The results showed that: (1) The niche overlap of main species in the shrub layer was generally low, and the interspecific competition was not strong. The species with larger importance values and niche width were Spiraea cantoniensis,Lespedeza bicolor, and Spiraea salicifolia.  (2) The overall association of main species in the shrub layer was significantly positive (P<0.05). The positive and negative correlation ratios of the χ2 test and association coefficient (AC) were 1.47 and 1.87, respectively. The community structure tended to be stable. The χ2 test results showed that the significant ratios of positive and negative associations were 4.3% and 0.9%, respectively. Thedegree of association between species pairs was small, tending to be distributed independently. (3) The distribution of main species in the shrub layer was greatly affected by elevation, aspect, slope, and the thickness of litter layer. To maintain and improve the stability of shrub community, the structure of shrub layer should be adjusted according to interspecific association, niche characteristics, and environmental factors in forest management.
  • Online:2021-11-10 Published:2022-05-10

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Abstract: niche|interspecific association| association coefficient| canonical correspondence analysis (CCA).