Point pattern analysis based on null models of populations in fixed sand at the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert

doi:10.11686/cyxb2023444

Abstract

Abstract:

The spatial distribution patterns of vegetation populations result from the combined effects of populations’ biological characteristics， intraspecific relationships， and interspecific relationships. Understanding the spatial distribution patterns of plants is of great significance for elucidating how plants adapt to their ecological environment， and how populations maintain diversity. In this study， we analyzed vegetation populations in fixed sandy lands on the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert. Areas where the sandy lands have been fixed for 30 to 40 years were selected for analysis. The formation of spatial patterns of five common plant species， namely Eragrostis minor， Setaria viridis， Chloris virgata， Salsola collina， and Grubovia dasyphylla， was analyzed and tested using point pattern analyses. The null models used in the tests of spatial randomness were the complete spatial randomness model， the Poisson cluster model， and the nested double-cluster model. According to the results， the populations were ranked from highest to lowest density， as follows： E. minor， S. viridis， C. virgata， G. dasyphylla， and S. collina. When using the complete spatial randomness null model， the population of E. minor showed a trend towards changing from an aggregated distribution to a uniform distribution and then to an aggregated distribution at the scale of 0-1000 cm.The other four species appeared to have aggregated distributions， and the scale of aggregated distribution reduced as population density decreased. Using the Poisson cluster null model， E. minor， G. dasyphylla， and S. collina showed an aggregated distribution at 0-35 cm scales， but a random distribution at other scales. S. viridis， showed an aggregated distribution at scales of 0-55 cm and 405-835 cm， and C. virgata at scales of 0-75 cm and 465-945 cm， but a random distribution at other scales. Using the double-cluster null model， the five species showed random distributions at 0-1000 cm scales， that is， small clusters were spread across large clusters. In conclusion， the restriction of seed dispersal， the “fertile island” effect of shrubs， and the characteristics of the algal crust may determine the patchiness of populations of common plants in areas with 30-40 years of sand fixation on the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert.

Key words: the southeast edge of the Tengger Desert, habitat heterogeneity, dispersal limitation, point pattern analysis, null model

Wen-jie QU, Lei WANG, Xin-guo YANG, Jian-jun QU, Li ZHANG, Bo ZHANG, Xiang-bo SUN. Point pattern analysis based on null models of populations in fixed sand at the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2024, 33(10): 37-45.

Figures/Tables 5

Table 1 Results of analyses using Poisson cluster process and the double-cluster model process

物种 Species	株数 Number n	复合大尺度聚块格局 Pattern of compound larger-scale clustering				小尺度聚块格局 Pattern of small-scale clustering
物种 Species	株数 Number n	$σ 1$	$100 ρ 1$	$A ρ 1$	$E r$	$σ 2$	$100 ρ 2$	$A ρ 2$	$E r$
狗尾草S. viridis	15311	32.440	0.02126	8.51	0.00063	2.115	3.689	1475.41	0.00080
虎尾草C. virgata	2966	35.327	0.00542	2.17	0.00629	3.120	0.327	130.86	0.00212
小画眉草E. minor	22094	8.321	0.24100	96.50	0.00286	1.098	16.403	6561.25	0.00249
雾冰藜G. dasyphylla	949	18.779	0.03441	13.77	0.00188	2.007	1.790	716.03	0.00091
猪毛菜S. collina	753	4.399	0.78003	312.01	0.01614	1.497	1.882	753.00	0.01482

Table 1 Results of analyses using Poisson cluster process and the double-cluster model process

物种 Species	株数 Number n	复合大尺度聚块格局 Pattern of compound larger-scale clustering				小尺度聚块格局 Pattern of small-scale clustering
物种 Species	株数 Number n	$σ 1$	$100 ρ 1$	$A ρ 1$	$E r$	$σ 2$	$100 ρ 2$	$A ρ 2$	$E r$
狗尾草S. viridis	15311	32.440	0.02126	8.51	0.00063	2.115	3.689	1475.41	0.00080
虎尾草C. virgata	2966	35.327	0.00542	2.17	0.00629	3.120	0.327	130.86	0.00212
小画眉草E. minor	22094	8.321	0.24100	96.50	0.00286	1.098	16.403	6561.25	0.00249
雾冰藜G. dasyphylla	949	18.779	0.03441	13.77	0.00188	2.007	1.790	716.03	0.00091
猪毛菜S. collina	753	4.399	0.78003	312.01	0.01614	1.497	1.882	753.00	0.01482

Fig.1 Height， biomass， and point diagram of individual distribution for different populations

Fig.2 Point pattern analysis of species based on complete spatial randomness model

Fig.3 Point pattern analysis of species based on Poisson cluster process

Fig.4 Point pattern analysis of species based on nested double-cluster process

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