Research On Non-crop Community Characteristics And The Relationship Of Landscape Heterogeneity Of Agricultural Landscape In The Lower Region Of The Yellow River Plain

Boasting a long history and highly developed agriculture, the middle and lower reachesof the Yellow River are regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilization. In recent years,suffering from mostly anthropogenic disturbances, the agricultural landscape here has becomestructurally simplified, leading to severe losses of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Itis thus imperative that we study the structural characteristics of plant communities on thelandscape level in this region.Fengqiu County of the Henan Province is representative of farming regions in the middleand lower reaches of the Yellow River, exhibiting mostly intensive monocultures.Non-agricultural habitats in this agricultural landscape include field roads, hedges, woods,and ditches. In this study, field investigation was carried out on those habitats in the southernpart of the Fengqiu county, and plant community structure and biodiversity were analyzed toreveal community composition characteristics thereof. Twenty-four1-square-kilometer studyplots were selected, spread evenly within a24-km by16-km grid. In each plot, plant specieswere sampled within field roads, hedges, and woods, respectively. Species richness, diversityand evenness of plant communities were then calculated, inter-plot and inter-habitatdifferences were analyzed. Community surveys were carried out in the summer and theautumn, permitting an analysis of inter-seasonal changes. The relationship between landscapeheterogeneity and plant functional diversity was analyzed.The results are as follows:1. In the study area,133species, belonging to43families and111genera, were recorded.Compositae, Gramineae, Leguminosae, and Labiatae are the dominant families. There are24exotic species, belonging to14families. 2. Within each habitat type, plant diversity exhibits some volatility. Species richness,species diversity and species evenness are all highest in woods and lowest in field roads. βdiversity does not differ significantly between habitat types. Plant diversity in the summer ishigher than in the autumn. Field roads show the greatest inter-seasonal changes.3. The correlation between species diversity and landscape heterogeneity is most strongbut still insignificant at sub-kilometer scales.4. Plant functional group diversity is not significantly correlated with landscapeheterogeneity.5. Functional diversity of annual and biennial dicotyledonous plants appears to beweakly correlated with landscape heterogeneity.