JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2017, Vol. 60 ›› Issue (02): 175-180.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-2006.2017.02.026

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Niches of the main plant species in Baili Rhododendron National Forest Park

WU Qiannan1, DONG Jianwen1,3, ZHEN Yu2, FU Weicong1, LI Hui1, ZHU Zhipeng1,CHEN Ziru1, DING Guochang1,3*   

  1. 1. College of Landscape Architecture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China;
    2. Department of Geographic Science, Minjiang University, Fuzhou 350002, China;
    3.National Engineering Research Center for the Forest Park, Fuzhou 350002, China
  • Online:2017-04-18 Published:2017-04-18

Abstract: 【Objective】 Gain a better understanding of the ability of plants to utilize resources and to occupy space, provide fundamental information for operation and management.【Method】 We explored the niches of dominant species in Baili Rhododendron National Forest Park based on niche breadth, niche similarity and Pianka’s calculation method of niche overlap. 【Result】 ① Rhododendron delavayi, R. agastum, R. irroratum and R. simsii were the main species in the community, and their niche breadths were 1.709, 1.576, 1.411 and 1.062, respectively. ②There was a low degree of niche similarity among species within the community, which indicated that they had a low similarity of resource use. There was no obvious correlation between niche similarity and niche breadths. ③ There were more opportunities for species with large niche breadths to overlap with other species; however, their overlap value was not necessarily larger. 【Conclusion】 The species with larger niche breadths are from the Ericaceae, and R. delavayi and R. irroratum have lower niche overlap. This may be connected mainly with bio-ecological characters, which is the result of population adaptability to long-term resource utilization. The results pertaining to the niche of dominant species should be taken into consideration when developing more suitable measures for the protection of forest communities and landscape enhancement.

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