Spatial Variation Of Population Characteristic And Natural Regeneration Of Sophora Viciifolia In The Dry Valley Of The Upper Mingjiang River

Vegetation restoration and management were based on the study of the spatial variation of pattern, growth, reproduction, seed bank and seedling characteristics of native plant Sophora viciifolia, a native shrub widely distributed in the mountains along the dry valleys of southwestern China, appears to be suitable for revegetation of dry valley. Major results of our research includes:1. The population characteristicsThe Sophora viciifolia population are aggregative distribution along the dry valleys. The intension of the aggregative distribution on south-faceing slope is lower than that on north-facing slope. The growth characteristics of clumps including biomass, age of the clump and, ramet number of clump were not significantly variety, but the crown diameter, height of the clump and the population density were significantly variety. Meanwhile, the growth characteristics of ramats including height, base diameter and the age were significantly variety. At the Jingzhou-hill, the The growth characteristics of clumps including height, age, crown diameter, ramet number of clump and the biomass of the clump were not significantly variety .Except of ramet number other indexes were significantly conelative to altitude and latitude, suggesting the two factors strongly influenced the growth of the plant and most of them are negative correlation. The base diameter and the clump height were significantly negative correlative to longtitude. The ramet height, ramet base diameter, crown diameter and the clump height were significantly positive to the gradient of the slope. The ramet height, crown diameter and the population density were significantly negative conelative to the facing of the slope. The age structure of Sophora viciifolia of the dry valley is stable-growing type.2. The fruiting characteristic The fruit number of the Sophora viciifolia was 292.43±274.55 pod/clump and 78.10±118.13/ramet.The fruit number of the clump was differ significantly among sampling plots while that of the ramet was not .The growth characteristic of ramet including height, base diameter and age were significantly correlative to the fruit number of the ramet while only the ramet number of the clump was significantly correlative to the fruit number of the clump. However, the fruit number was not significantly correlative to any of the environment factor.3. seeds bank and the seedling bankThe average density of soil seeds of Sophora viciifolia in dry valley of the upper Minjing River was 396.89±543/m~2 and was differ significantly among sampling plots. The vitality rate of Sophora viciifolia intact seeds in the soil was 52.57% and it was differ significantly among sampling plots. The vitality rate of the soil intact seeds between superstratum and substrate was not differ significantly among sampling plots except Feihong. The seedling density were low in all sampling plots.