JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2023, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6): 203-210.doi: 10.12302/j.issn.1000-2006.202206025

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Niche and interspecific association of dominant herbaceous plants in the outer Qinhuai River,Nanjing City

LI Yuhan(), DING Yanfen(), ZHANG Changwei   

  1. College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
  • Received:2022-06-18 Revised:2023-02-01 Online:2023-11-30 Published:2023-11-23

Abstract:

【Objective】Exploring the ecological niche, interspecific association and community stability of dominant herbaceous plants in the Outer Qinhuai River will provide a theoretical basis and practical reference for the ecological restoration of vegetation and the construction of a river ecological corridor. 【Method】Based on community survey data, niche width, niche overlap, and niche similarity were used to analyze niche characteristics, total association analysis, χ2 test, interspecific association coefficient (AC) value, common occurrence percentage (PC) value, Pearson’s correlation coefficient test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient test were used to analyze the characteristics of interspecific. 【Result】(1) A total of 124 species of herbaceous plants were identified in this survey. The niche width of Rumex acetosa was the largest. (2) The overall correlation among the dominant herbaceous species in the Outer Qinhuai River showed no significant positive association. (3) The χ2test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient test, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient test showed that most species pairs were not significantly correlated and the correlation among species was weak. (4) The 18 pairs showed AC value ≥0.6 and five pairs showed PC value ≥0.7, indicating that the association between dominant species was weak. (5) M. Gordon’s stability analysis indicated that the coordinates of the intersection point and stable point deviated significantly, and the community was in an unstable state. 【Conclusion】Dominant species of herbaceous plant communities in the outer Qinhuai River, Nanjing City show a wide difference in niche. The overall correlation among the dominant herbaceous species did not show a significant positive association. The interspecific structure was loose, species independence was strong, and the community was in an unstable succession stage. To improve community stability, it is necessary to strengthen the ecological restoration of the Qinhuai River basin.

Key words: the outer Qinhuai River, importance value, niche width, niche overlap, population, interspecific association, community stability, Nanjing City

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