Vertical Differentiation Of Plant Diversity And The Correlation With Soil Environment On Liaoning Eastern Mountains

Based on the data of open plots and took the species richness,αdiversity andβdiversity as measure target, using TWINSPAN classification, this paper analyzed the types and characters of plant community, the pattern of plant species diversity along altitudinal gradient and the relationship between plant diversity and soil environment on the northern slope of Mt. Laotudingzi. The results obtained as follows:1. The vertical band spectrum and species compositionThere was a clear vegetation vertical belt on the north slope of Mt.Laotudingzi due to the special geographical condition. From piedmont to peak, the vertical zone spectrum was composed of 8 belts, namely the deciduous broad-leaved forests dominated by Quercus mongolica and Acer mono, the deciduous broad-leaved forests dominated by Tilia amurensis and Acer mono, the mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests dominated by Abies nephroleis and Syringa reticulata var.mandshurica, the dark coniferous forests dominated by Abies nephrolepis and Picea jezoensis var.microsperma, the mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests dominated by Betula costata and Abies nephrolepis, the deciduous broad-leaved forests dominated by Betula ermanii and Acer barbinerve, shrubs dominated by Acer spp. and Corylus mandshurica and herbs dominated by Carex spp. and Calamagrostis angustifolia.On the north slope of Mt.Laotudingzi,27 tree species, 32 shrub species and 104 herb species were recorded in 9 plots, and the Quercus mongolica, Acer mono, Tilia amurensis, Syringa amarensis, Abies nephrolepis, Picea jezoensis var. microsperma, Betula costata and Betula ermanii were dominant species in tree layer. The Ribes maximowiczianum, Lonicera monantha, Corylus mandshurica and Actinidia kolomikta were common species in shrub layer. The Umbelliferae, Labiatae, Liliaceae, Compositae and Cyperaceae were frequently appeared in herb layer.2. The changes of species diversity along the altitude gradient①The changes of species richness along the altitude gradientThe changes of species richness on the north slope of Mt.Laotudingzi along the altitude gradient was complicated that the minimal and maximal values appeared continuously at the altitude of 1067m and 1167m, the species amount was 6 and 38. respectively.②The changes ofαdiversity along the altitude gradientThe Shannon-Wiener showed wavy fluctuation with increasing elevation from 667 to 1267m, its value was 1.37-2.07, and raised substantially in the high altitude above 1267; The Simpson index ranged from 0.98 to 0.99 along altitudinal gradient from 667 to 1267m, there was no obvious change, with increasing elevation the value was significantly reduced in the high altitude above 1267.③The changes ofβdiversity along the altitude gradientThe 3 valley of Jaccard index appeared at 767-867m, 1067-1167m, and 1317-1347m, corresponding to transitional zones of the fallen broad-leaved forests to mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, dark coniferous forests to mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests, shrubs to herbs. The Cody index peaked at 1 167-1267m firstly, expressed the transitional of mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests dominated by Betula costata to fallen broad-leaved forests dominated by Betula ermanii, the second appeared at 1317-1347m, which illustrated the transition from shrubs to herbs.3. The correlations between plant diversity and soil environmentResults showed: There was significant negative index correlation between species richness of plant community and soil organic matter (R= -0.726,P<0.01,n=27); there was significant negative index correlation between species richness and soil nitrogen(R= -0.593,P<0.01,n=27), there was positive correlation between Shannon-Wiener and soil nitrogen (R=0.429,P<0.05,n=27), there was negative index correlation between Simpson and soil nitrogen(R= -0.467,P<0.05,n=27); there was significant positive correlation between Shannon-Wiener and soil phosphate(R= 0.658,P<0.01,n=27), there was significant negative index correlation between Simpson and soil phosphate(R= -0.640,P<0.01,n=27); there was significant positive index correlation between species richness of plant community and soil proportion(R= 0.737,P<0.01,n=27). The conclusion indicated that the relationship between species diversity of plant community and soil environment was closer on the north slope of Mt.Laotudingzi. The relationship between species diversity of trees, shrub, herbs and soil environment were different on the north slope of Mt.Laotudingzi.