Spatial distribution pattern of Pinus tabulaeformis population in Taiyue Mountain,Shanxi Province

Based on investigation data from a 1.96 hm2 Pinus tabulaeformis forest plot in Taiyue Mountain,Shanxi Province.DBH structure of P.tabulaeformis population was analysed.Ripley′s K function was used to analyse spatial pattern and spatial association of P.tabulaeformis population in different growth stages(saplings,small trees and big trees).The results showed that DBH structure of P.tabulaeformis presented a unimodal distribution and middle age individuals accounted more.The spatial pattern of P.tabulaeformis population was clump for saplings and small trees,but random for big trees,seed dispersal mechanism was key factor to spatial pattern.Varied with growth stage(saplings→small trees→big trees),spatial pattern tended to be random,which showed the survival strategy and sutability in certain degree.Also,spatial pattern matched well with spatial association,positive correlation could help P.tabulaeformis population to utilize resources much better and maintain population growth.