Abstract: Quadrats were set up in the revegetated area on a rock slope of a quarry with artificial revegetation for 16 years and in adjacent original vegetation areas (mainly natural vegetation) in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. We examined community structure, species composition, and species diversity under different edge gradients, and then explored the influence of edge effects on artificial vegetation. The results showed that: (1) The similarity between plant communities in the revegetated area near the edge and the adjacent natural vegetation was higher than that between plant communities in the revegetated area far to the edge and the adjacent natural vegetation. The former was also closer to natural vegetation in species composition of trees and shrubs. (2) There were still great differences in plant species composition between the revegetated area and the natural vegetation area. Tree species richness of the former was much lower than that of the latter, while the dominant species of each layer of the artificial vegetation were more prominent. Compared with natural plant community, the artificial vegetation on the slope was still at the early stage of succession. (3) Species composition of the artificial vegetation was affected by adjacent natural vegetation. Species initially sprayingseeded or planted were gradually replaced by local native species. Species diversity of shrub layer, herb layer, and vine layer in the revegetated area was close to that of adjacent natural vegetation. Meanwhile, there was no biological invasion or biodiversity loss of adjacent natural vegetation caused by artificial seeding or planting of alien species. Our results demonstrated that the edge effect of the ecotone between the artificial vegetation on the quarry slope and the adjacent natural vegetation had a certain effect on the positive succession of plant community in the artificial vegetation and reducing the degree of forest fragmentation.

Key words: quarry, slope, vegetation reconstruction, edge effect, community succession, Zhoushan City.