Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (5): 750-756.doi: 10.11934/j.issn.1673-4831.2016.05.010

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Scale Effects on Species Diversity of Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest on Wuyi Mountains

CHEN Ting-ting1,2, XU Hui3, MA Fang-zhou2, CHEN Shui-fei2, XU Hai-gen2, FANG Yan-ming4, YANG Qing3, XU Xian-jun3, DING Hui2   

  1. 1. College of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China;
    2. Research Center for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity/State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Nanjing 210042, China;
    3. Wuyi Mountains Biological Institute of Fujian Province, Wuyishan 354300, China;
    4. Southern Modern Forestry Collaborative Innovation Center/College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
  • Received:2015-11-25 Online:2016-09-25 Published:2016-10-08

Abstract:

Scale effect is of fundamental ecological significance to exploration of structural variation and dynamics of plant communities. As the Wuyishan preserves certain patches of natural primary forest ecosystems typical of the central subtropics, exploration was carried out in that region of mechanisms of the formation and maintenance of the species diversity, and spatial distribution of the species diversity index in the region and its scale effects. Based on trees ≥1 cm in DBH within the forest dynamics monitoring zone, 9.6 hm2 in area on the Wuyishan, Fujian Province, Simpson index, Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou's evenness index were calculated using seven sampling scales (5 m×3 m, 10 m×6 m, 20 m×12 m, 40 m×24 m, 80 m×48 m, 133.3 m×80 m, 200 m×120 m). Variance and coefficient of variation was used to describe spatial variability, as well as relationships between these indices and sampling scale. Results show that all the indices are related with scale, and feature significantly regional distribution. In addition, species diversity is not only related to spatial scale, and its distribution also follows the rule of scale deduction. Therefore, in analyzing species diversity of plant communities in future, attention should be paid to the rule of scale deduction and spatial variability brought about by sampling scale and areas.

Key words: sampling scale, scale effect, species diversity index, spatial variability

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