Interspecific Relationships of Dominant Populations in the Alpine Wetlands in the Source Region of Yangtze River

Based on the datasets from sampling plots, the interspecific relationships among 26 main plant species of alpine wetlands in the source region of Yangtze River were studied by using methods of χ2-test, Pearson' s correlation and Spearman' s rank correlation analysis. The results indicated that there were positive associations for 26 pair-species and negative associations for 22 pair-species by χ2-test, positive correlations for 37 pair-species and no negative correlations for 15 pair-species by Pearson' s correlation coefficient, and positive correlations for 46 pair-species and negative correlations for 34 pair-species by Spearman' s rank correlation coefficient; the proportion of significant pairs-species was few, which mean most species were independently distributed and not closely related with each other; compared with Pearson' s correlation coefficient, Spearman' s correlation coefficient was more sensitive and could make up the defect of Pearson' s correlation coefficient. It was better to investigate the interspecific correlation by combining χ2-test with Pearson' s correlation coefficient and Spearman' s rank correlation coefficient; the dominant species were divided into 3 ecological groups and the species in the same ecological groups had the same way of utilizing resources.