Spatial pattern of a plant community in a wetland ecosystem in a semi-arid region in northwestern China |
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Authors: | Kebin Zhang Rui Li Yunfang Liu Baitian Wang Xiaohui Yang Ruiping Hou |
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Institution: | (1) Key Laboratory for Soil and Water Conservation & Desertification Combating of Ministry of Education, School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China;(2) Fourth Survey and Design Institute of China Railways, Wuhan, 430063, China;(3) Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China;(4) Academy of Forestry Planning and Design, State Forestry Administration, Beijing, 100714, China |
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Abstract: | The spatial distribution characteristics of plant communities in a wetland-dry grassland ecosystem in arid and semi-arid regions
in northwestern China and the main factors affecting the distribution pattern were studied. The Siertan wetland in the Haba
Lake Nature Reserve was the study area. Four transect lines, each about 1 km long, were set up in the growing season along
the biotope gradient in four directions: east, northeast, west and northwest. Attributes measured include frequency of occurrence,
height, density, coverage, biomass and environmental soil factors. The data were analyzed using a two-way indicative species
analysis (TWINSPAN), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and Spearman correlation coefficients. On this basis, the vegetation
in the Siertan wetland was classified into three types and 14 associations. The first vegetation type was halophytic marsh
vegetation, mainly distributed in the wetland zone. This type largely contains halophyte and hygric plants and its representative
association is Phragmites communis + Kalidium foliatum. The second type was meadow vegetation, distributed in the ecotone. The meadow vegetation species are mainly mesophytic and
their representative association is Nitraria tangutorum + Pennisetum flaccidum. The third vegetation type is grassland vegetation, which mainly consists of mesophytic and xerophytes, distributed in the
arid grassland zone. The representative association of the third vegetation type is the association of Anaeurolepidium secalium + Saussurea runcinata. Correlation analysis between the axes of DCA and environmental soil factors shows that soil moisture content, organic matter,
soil salt content and total nitrogen are the main environmental factors affecting the pattern of vegetation distribution along
the biotope gradients from wetland to arid grassland. Other factors affecting the vegetation are microtopography and grazing
pressure. Additionally, we have reported modifications and improvements to the importance value methodology.
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Translated from Journal of Beijing Forestry University, 2008, 30(1): 6–13 译自: 北京林业大学学报] |
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Keywords: | plant community spatial distribution TWIN-SPAN quantitative classification DCA ordination environmental interpretation |
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