| This thesis studied the spatial distribution pattern of the dominant plants in Lingkong Mountain of Shanxi province in North China. A 4-hm2 permanent plot was established for community monitoring, in accordance with the standards by CTFS (Centre for Tropical Forest Science) in the Shanxi Provincial Nature Reserve of Lingkong Mountain in 2011. The continuous quadrate method was used for examining the spatial distribution patterns of the species and their relationships to the environmental factors, The main results are summarized as follows:It was found that the diameter-class structure was similar for both Q. wutaishanica and P. tabulaeformis, where most individuals were small and medium in size. The larger trees demonstrated approximately normal distribution pattern. The Q. wutaishanica showed notable bottleneck phenomena among the individuals of 4-cm DBH, while P. tabulaeformis were all in growth stage. The number of the small trees in both species were found the most, while the saplings were fewer in number than the seedlings,small trees and the big trees. The spatial distribution of big trees were spatially complementary to certain extent in both populations.The spatial distribution patterns of Quercu wutaishanica and Pinus tabulaeformis in different growth stages exhibited notable consistency. The seedlings, saplings and small trees of two populations clustered in small scale (0-5 m) but randomly distributed in large scales. The big trees showed random distribution in all scales. Among the 6 intraspecific pairs of the O(r) verses the scale in r(m) for the individuals at 4 growth stages in Quercu wutaishanica or Pinus tabulaeformis, the negative correlation was found in each pairswise comparisons in small scale (r(m)<20m), but positive correlation in larger scale. The similar tests were performed among 16 interspecific comparisons, where the positive correlation were observed in small scale (r(m)<40m) and certain larger scales.It is generally known that both Q. wutaishanica and P. tabulaeformis prefer shady areas. However, the largest samples of Q. wutaishanica were observed in sunny slopes in Lingkong Mountain. The highest density was found in the slope at 20°～30° for both species. The adaptations to slope among the small and big trees of Q. wutaishanica were found better than those of P. tabulaeformis at the same growth stages, and the number of individuals increased with the rising slope. In Q. wutaishanica the altitude was positively correlated to the abundance of seedlings, the average height and the average DBH, but gradually turned to negative correlation to that of the trees at increasing age. In constrast, no such correlation was observed in P. tabulaeformis. For both species, no correlation were found between the litter layer depth and the number of trees at all ages. However, the significant negative correlation was observed with depth of humus layer to the number of the small trees in Q. wutaishanica and P. tabulaeformis.These results showed that the spatial distribution of Q. wutaishanica and P. tabulaeformis is mainly in random patterns in Lingkong Mountain. The two populations prefer the similar slope directions and the steepness had certain impact on the abundance and density of both species. The Q. wutaishanica population were more sensitive to altitude than P. tabulaeformis. |
