Abstract: This research collected the scientific papers concerning on novel species in China from the Web of Science Database, the China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database and the VIP Journal Integration Platform using the bibliometric method. The publication date, classification and location data of novel species were extracted to explain the spatial and temporal distribution pattern in China. The results showed that from 1958 to 2014, a total of 3707 novel species were reported, belonging to Kingdoms of Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. Among the five kingdoms, the number of novel species in Class Insecta, Phylum Arthropoda, Animalia was the largest and occupied 48% of the total novel species. The temporal distribution pattern displayed an increasing trend over the research period and 6 peaks were observed, especially in 2012, the number of novel species reached 369. The spatial distribution pattern analysis suggested that except the Bacteria and Cyanobacteria, the other three kingdoms in Southwest China had the greatest number of novel species. In addition, the spatial distribution patterns of novel species in Plantae and Animalia were closely related.

Key words: forest community, succession, stability, fuzzy mathematics, stand adjustment.