Abstract: The niche characteristics of 22 dominant species, including 12 trees and 10 shrubs, in Macaca mulatta habitat of Lishan National Nature Reserve were analyzed by using Shannon’s niche breadth and Levins’s niche overlap indices. The results indicated that: (1) Carpinus turczaninowii had the largest niche breadth (3.477), followed by Carpinus cordata (3.340), Juglans cathayensis (3.194), Quercus mongolica (3.123), and Ulmus pumila had the least niche breadth (1.039) in the tree layer. In the shrub layer, the niche breadth value of Forsythia suspensa was the largest (3.491), followed by Spiraea trilobata (3.017), Sorbaria sorbifolia (1.938), Elaeagnus pungens (1.759), Lonicera ferdinandii (1.593), and Deutzia grandiflora had the least (1.131). The results suggested that these shrubs had strong adaptability to the environment and competition for the resources. (2) There were low niche overlaps among 22 trees. The niche similarity coefficients were from 0.10 to 0.30, suggesting that interspecific competition among those trees was relatively weak. (3) There was no complete positive correlation between the niche breadth and niche overlap, and this result may be determined by the heterogeneity of the habitat.

Key words: photosynthetic physiological characteristics, slope aspect, subalpine meadow, plant leaf trait, microhabitat