Patterns of species diversity and soil nutrients along a chronosequence of vegetation recovery in Hainan Island, South China

Abstract

Understanding the pattern of species diversity and soil factors can enhance our knowledge of the mechanism of vegetation recovery, however, there is still a gap in the knowledge of succession rate and trend for species diversity in relation to soil nutrients during the vegetation recovery process. Patterns of species diversity and soil nutrients during the tropical vegetation recovery as well as the correlation between species diversity and soil nutrients were explored in Hainan Island, located in southern China. Plots assigned as grassland stage (GS), shrub stage (SS), secondary forest stage (SFS), and primary forest stage (PFS) were established using a chronosequence approach. Results showed that species richness and evenness increased from GS to PFS. Species dominance/diversity curves were fitted using the lognormal distribution model (r2 = 0.891–0.972). Species richness for the herb layer was maximal at SFS, whereas species richness for both the shrub layer and tree layer reached their maximum at PFS. Species turnover and soil total phosphorus decreased, whereas organic matter and total nitrogen increased from GS to PFS. Organic matter and total nitrogen were both positively correlated with species richness and total coverage, and total phosphorus was positively correlated with species turnover. The results clearly demonstrate that diversity asymptotically increases and positively correlates with increasing soil fertility, and the total phosphorus value is predicted to be an important soil factor that affects successional rate during tropical vegetation recovery processes.

Restauración ecológica post-incendio de un bosque mixto de Pinus-Quercus del noreste de México

“…Debido a las actuaciones de reforestación, la segunda especie con mayor IVI en el área restaurada fue P. pseudostrobus con 15.7 %. El análisis de varianza por especie demostró diferencias significativas, siendo P. pseudostrobus más abundante (F = 14.764; P = 0.009) y dominante (F = 6.247; P = 0.047) en lognormal distribution is documented for mature plant communities, where there are few families or species with high or low abundance values, with most having intermediate values (Long, Yang, & Li, 2012;Martella et al, 2012;Matthews & Whittaker, 2014) Table 1 reports the tree density and ecological indicators of the two evaluated areas (rehabilitated and non-rehabilitated). The non-rehabilitated area had a density of 5,300 ± 1,028 individuals·ha -1 with a total crown area of 17,790 ± 963 m 2 ·ha -1 , while the rehabilitated area had a density of 3,231 ± 535 individuals·ha -1 with a crown area of 13,117 ± 2,431 m 2 ·ha -1 .…”

“…La distribución Poisson-lognormal está documentada para comunidades vegetales maduras, donde existen escasas familias o especies con valores altos o escasamente abundantes, y la mayoría presenta valores intermedios (Long, Yang, & Li, 2012;Martella et al, 2012;Matthews & Whittaker, 2014) El Cuadro 1 reporta la densidad arbórea y los indicadores ecológicos de las dos áreas evaluadas (restaurada y no restaurada). La superficie no restaurada presentó densidad de 5,300 ± 1,028 individuos·ha -1 con área de copa total de 17,790 ± 963 m 2 ·ha -1 , mientras que la superficie restaurada tuvo densidad de 3,231 ± 535 individuos·ha -1 con área de copa de 13,117 ± 2,431 m 2 ·ha -1 .…”

Estructura y diversidad del matorral submontano contiguo al área metropolitana de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

“…Este tipo de distribución es el más común en comunidades vegetales sin disturbio (García, 1995;Zacarías-Eslava et al, 2011;Long et al, 2012;Martella et al, 2012;Matthews y Whittaker, 2014). Existe una sola especie muy abundante, la cual destaca por su abundancia alta (Acacia amentacea), mientras que otras cinco (Diospyros palmeri, Prosopis laevigata, Casimiroa greggii, Echinocereus pentalophus y Nicotiana glauca) son raras.…”

“…Sin embargo, la Poisson-lognormal mostró, aunque por un margen escaso, los mejores ajustes. En este caso utilizamos la distribución de Poisson-lognormal, ya que esta distribución está documentada para comunidades vegetales maduras (Long et al, 2012;Martella et al, 2012;Matthews y Whittaker, 2014).…”

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants used by Li people in Ledong, Hainan Island, China

“…The terrain in the east is higher than that of the west [12]. It has favorable natural and geographical conditions, and encloses numerous medicinal plant resources [13], which provides livelihood substances for many ethnic groups. The Li ethnic group was one of the first groups to reside in the area and has developed many cultural practices and customs.…”