The Relationship Between Vegetative Productivity And Diversity Along A Transect In Eastern Inner Mongolia, China

Understanding the relationship that exists between the two variables that my research was concentrated on, that is productivity and diversity, is fundamental to the management and preservation of biodiversity.This experiment was carried out in Naji Forest Farm of Chenbaerhu, Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia, China and the study focused on finding out the species composition characteristics along the transect, for example, different functional groups. We also studied the factors that affect the species distribution, and finally the relationship between productivity and diversity which is the main thrust of this study.The main results of this experiment are:1. 249 species of vascular plants belonging to 153 genera and 41 families were recorded in the study area.2. Species richness was significantly different along the transect, as the distribution of plant species showed a double-humped trend, and most likely a positive edge effect.3. With respect to the functional group, perennial forbs and grasses were the main groups in this area when considering their Raunkiear life form. Chamaephytes and Geophytes were dominated in this transect. In relation to water ecotone, Mesophyte was the main form along the transect.4. The three most dominant species were; Leymus chinensis, Sanguisorba officinalis and Carex spp.5. The general form of relationship between productivity and diversity was humped-shape, where diversity peaked at intermediate level of productivity and decreased at high level of productivity and there was no uniform or general form of the site by site productivity- diversity relationship and6. The plot and sample sizes appeared to show some effect in the determination of the form of the relationship between productivity and diversity.The high species richness in the transitional zone sites means greater effort should be made focusing on conservation of biodiversity of this area. Furthermore, this study could serve as baseline information to measure the effect of climate change. Further study on the factors that influence the species richness in my study site and the possible effect of climate change on the species richness pattern are needed.