Patterns of Succession of Different Types of Wetland Vegetations in Shandong

There are 277 species of 70 families of vascular plants,24 species of 12 families of lichens occurring in wetlands in Shandong province.Sedge grasses and gramineous plants constitute the majority of the species composition.The wetland vegetations can be categorized into 7 groups of shrubs,shrub-like grasses,meadows,salinity plants,desert plants,swamp plants,and aquatic plants.The distribution of wetland vegetation is affected not only by geographical location,climate and altitude,but also by water,soil and soil salinity.Wetland succession can be seen as the succession of plant communities,i.e.the process of changes in species composition and in plant communities caused by the development of wetland,especially the changes in soil moisture and nutrition.Succession of wetland plant community is the consequence of integrated effects by a number of natural elements such as climate, hydrology and topography and soil.It objectively reflects the formation, development and succession of wetland.