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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (7): 23-37.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2022391

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Important species’ niche characteristics of population in herbaceous communities at Picea asperata-Abies fargesii forest burned area on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Xiao-lei ZHOU1(), Fu-qiang YANG2, Ming-jun WANG3, Hai-xia HUANG1, Qing TIAN1,4, Xu-jiao ZHOU5, An ZHAO6, Wan-peng HE1, Yan-li ZHAO1, Li-hong JIANG1   

  1. 1.College of Forestry,Gansu Agricultural University,Lanzhou 730070,China
    2.Landscape Engineering,Gansu Province Forestry Vocational and Technical College,Tianshui 741020,China
    3.Luoda Protection Station of Gansu Bailongjiang Axia Provincial Nature Reserve Management and Protection Center,Zhouqu 746300,China
    4.Jinchang Municipal Government,Jinchuan 737100,China
    5.Pratacultural College,Gansu Agricultural University,Lanzhou 730070,China
    6.Qiandongnan Institute of Forestry,Kaili 556000,China
  • Received:2022-10-06 Revised:2022-11-21 Online:2023-07-20 Published:2023-05-26
  • Contact: Xiao-lei ZHOU

Abstract:

The ecological niche of plants in a given environment determines the relative stability of plant communities. Using the ‘space for time’ method, four plant communities at different stages of successional development since occurrence of fire (5, 15 and 23 years, and Climax i.e. no fire) on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were chosen for study. Levins and Shannon-Wiener niche breadth indexes and Pianka and Schoener niche overlap indexes were used to calculate herbaceous population niche width and niche overlap degree, and the specialist and generalist species of communities were separated. It was found that the Levins and Shannon-Wiener niche breadth index of herbaceous species at different succession stages were basically the same, and there was a different niche breadth for the same species. The dominant species niche width of the four communities ranked 23 yrs>5 yrs>15 yrs>Climax. For the specialist and generalist species, respectively, there were 2 and 2 at 5 years, 4 and 2 at 15 years, 3 and 0 at 23 years and 3 and 5 in the Climax succession. Species pairwise numbers with severe niche overlap were the smallest at 23 years, while species pairwise numbers with slight niche overlap were smallest in the Climax succession. The ranking for species pairwise numbers of moderate niche overlap was Climax>5 years>15 years>23 years. After severe fire disturbance of Picea asperata-Abies fargesii forest, the plant communities representing 5 years early succession of the burned area and 23 years succession (disturbed by human beings) were rich in plant habitat resources. The niche width of each group was relatively large, the niche overlap was small, and the competition among the corresponding populations was small. At the moderate stage of succession (15 years), the phenomenon of niche overlap and separation was obvious, most species in the community had great similarities in resource utilization, and interspecific competition was intensified. The Climax community can be considered more stable, with a relatively high niche width, the majority of species not having high niche overlap, and with a high similarity in resource utilization between the different species. Except for the Climax community, the ratio of specialist species to generalist species in each community succession stage was ≥50%, and the existence of specific habitats promote the appearance of specialist species. Appropriate human intervention can increase the niche width of species in the community, reduce the overlap of ecological niches between species, and form a relatively ecologically stable community.

Key words: herbaceous plant, ecological niche, Picea asperata-Abies fargesii forest, burned area, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau