Abstract
The relationship between plant communities and elevation in the Guandi mountainous area was studied. Data from 89 sampling units, each of 10 m x 20 m size, taken along an elevation gradient were analyzed by TW1NSPAN, DECORANA and diversity and evenness indices. The samples were clustered into 23 groups by TW1NSPAN, representing 23 vegetation types. The composition and distribution of communities varied greatly along the altitude gradient, suggesting that community diversity is closely related to elevation in the Guandi Mountains. This is due to the change of temperature and water-conditions along the elevation gradient. Species heterogeneity and evenness were significantly correlated with elevation along the entire gradient, but showing first a trend of increases and then decreases, corresponding to the hypothesis of maximum diversity at medium elevation. Species richness varied greatly in the study area, and was not significantly correlated with elevation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- DCA:
-
Detrended Correspondence Analysis
- TW1NSPAN:
-
Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis.
References
Alatalo, R. V 1981. Problems in the measurement of evenness in ecology. Ookos 37:199–204.
Austrheim, G 2002. Plant diversity patterns in semi-natural grasslands along an elevational gradient in southern Norway. Plant Ecology 161:193–205.
Cannell, M. G. R. and M. D. Hooper. 1990. The greenhouse effect and terrestrial ecosystems of the UK. Research Publication 4, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. London.
Chapman, S. B. 1976. Methods in Plant Ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London.
Dale, G 1998. Forest plant diversity at local and landscape scales in the Cascade mountains of Southwestern Washington. Forest Ecology and Management 109:323–341.
Hill, M. O and H. G. Gauch 1980. Detrended correspondence analysis - an improved ordination technique. Vegetatio 42:47–58.
Hill, M. O. 1979. TWINSPAN - A FORTRAN program for arranging multivariate data in an ordered two-way table by classification of the individuals and attributes. Cornell University, Ithaca.
Huston, M. A. 1994. Biological Diversity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Kessler, M 2001. Patterns of diversity and range size of selected plant groups along an elevational transect in the Bolivian Andes. Biodiversity and Conservation 10:1897–1921.
Loreau, M, S. Naeem and P. Inchausti 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 294:804–808.
Magurran, A. E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and its Measurement. Princeton University Press, London.
Markus, N. and S. Franz 2001. The significance of different indices for stand structure and diversity in forests. Forest Ecology and Management 145:91–106.
May, R. M. 1975. Patterns of species abundance and diversity. In: M. L. Cody and J. M. Diamond (eds.), Ecology and Evolution of Communities. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. pp. 81–120.
Ojeda, F., T. Marañón and J. Arroyo 2000. Plant diversity patterns in the Aljibe Mountains (S. Spain): a comprehensive account. Biodiversity and Conservation 9:1323–1343.
Olten, J. I., G. Paulsen and W. C. Oechel (eds). 1993. Impacts of climatic change on natural ecosystems. NINA, Trondheim.
Pielou, E. C. 1975. Ecological Diversity. Wiley, London.
Qiu, Y. and J.-T. Zhang 1999. Quantitative analysis to the gradients of space and time of natural plant communities in Bashuigou of the Guandi mountain. Chinese Journal of Applied and Environmental Biology 5:113–120.
Sokal, R. R. and F. J. Rohlf. 1981. Biometry. Freeman, New York.
Stohlgren, T. J., M. B. Coughenour and G. W. Chong 1997. Landscape analysis of plant diversity. Landscape Ecology 12:155–170.
Sutherland, W.J. 1996. Methods in Ecological Census. A Handbook. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Tang, C. Q. and M. Ohsawa 1997. Zonal transition of evergreen, deciduous, and coniferous forests along the altitudinal gradient on a humid subtropical mountain, Mt. Emei, Sichuan, China. Plant Ecology 133:63–78.
Ter Braak, C. J. F. 1991. CANOCO - A FORTRAN program for canonical community ordination by [detrended] [canonical] correspondence analysis. Agr. Math. Group, Wageningen.
Thomas, J., T. J. Stohlgren, A. J. Owen and M. Lee 2000. Monitoring shifts in plant diversity in response to climate change: a method for landscapes. Biodiversity and Conservation 9:65–86.
Tóthmérész, B 1995. Comparison of different methods for diversity ordering. Journal of Vegetation Science 6:283–290.
Tóthmérész, B 1998. On the characterization of scale-dependent diversity. Abstracta Botanica 22:149–156.
Wang, G., G. Zhou, L. Yang and Z. Li 2003. Distribution, species diversity and life-form spectra of plant communities along an altitudinal gradient in the northern slopes of Qilianshan Mountains, Gansu, China. Plant Ecology 165:169–181.
Xie, J. Y and L. Z. Chen 1997. The studies of some aspects of biodiversity on scrubs in warm temperate zone in China. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 21:197–207.
Zhang, J.-T. 1993. Mountain Grassland Ecology in North Snowdonia. China Science and Technology Press, Beijing.
Zhang, J.-T. 1995. Quantitative Methods in Vegetation Ecology. China Science and Technology Press, Beijing.
Zhang, J.-T 1999. Conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development. Economic Geography 19:70–75
Zhang, J.-T, B. F. Chai, Y. Qiu and T. G. Chen 2000. The change of species diversity in succession of abandoned cropland in Luliang mountains, Western Shanxi. Chinese Biodiversity 8:378–384
Zhang, J.-T. and T. G. Chen. 2002. Variation of plant species diversity in forest communities along an elevation gradient in Guandi Mountains, Shanxi, China. International Conference, Chengdu.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, J.T., Chen, T.G. Variation of plant communities along an elevation gradient in the Guandi Mountains, North China. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 5, 227–233 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.5.2004.2.10
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.5.2004.2.10