Research on characteristics of riparian herbs in Taizi River,Liaoning

Samples with area 3 m×3 m were collected to reveal the species composition and community characteristics in riparian zone of Taizi River,northeast China.Results based on 70 samples showed that there were 207 herbaceous species belonging to 36 families and 125 genera,and Compositae had the most species among all families,while Polygonum hydropiper had the highest frequency of occurrence.Geographic flora in this region was highly diverse,dominated by temperate genera.Among all species 120 belonged to hydrophyte and hygrophyte occupying 58.0% of all species;and 87 belonged to mesophyte and xerophytic occupying 42% of all species.All samples were clustered into 2 types based on presence and absence of species,and one type distributed mainly in high altitude area with the dominant species mesophyte and xerophytic,while the other type distributed mainly in low altitude area with the dominant species hydrophyte and hygrophyte.Weed and anthropochory species had high occurrence indicating disturbance on riparian zone of anthropogenic activities.Altitude and anthropogenic activities affect the species composition and community features,and this should be considered in the riparian management.