Applications of species indicator for analyzing plant community types and their biodiversity at Kunyushan National Forest Reserve

Species indicator is now widely used in monitoring and assessing restoration of various ecosystems after disturbance and in policy-making for ecosystem management.The objective of this study is to evaluate whether species indicator can be used to provide theoretical guidance for assessing forest restoration after disturbance and the effects of different forest management measures at Kunyushan National Forest Reserve.Analysis of species accumulation curves indicated that samples from the 40 permanent plots set by Kunyushan Ecosystem Station were statistically sufficient for analyzing the species composition and its change,because the species collected from the 40 permanent plots account for 92.9% of total number of the estimated species with an ACE value of 131.26.Principal coordinate analysis revealed that plant communities at Kunyushan Forest Reserve could be grouped into six stand types.Species indicator values(IndVals) analysis suggested the each stand type had its own unique indicators.Pinus thunbergii(IndVal=0.6404,P=0.004),Sorbus pohuashanensis(IndVal=0.5556,P=0.005) and Quercus acutissima(IndVal =0.5415,P=0.044) were indicators for P.thunbergii stands;indicators of P.densiflora stands were Prunus japonica(IndVal=0.7685,P=0.001),P.densiflora(IndVal=0.6321,P=0.001) and Lindera metcalfiana(IndVal=0.5464,P=0.020).Species indicators for Larix kaempfer/Cunninghamia lanceolata stands included Larix kaempfer(IndVal=0.7711,P=0.002),Sorbus alnifolia(IndVal=0.7689,P=0.002),Cunninghamia lanceolata(IndVal=0.6333,P=0.004),Symplocos paniculata(IndVal=0.536,P=0.033) and Ligustrum obtusifolium(IndVal=0.5000,P=0.003).Quercus acutissima(IndVal=0.9571,P=0.004) was also an indicator for conifer-Quercus acutissima mixed stands,whereas Smilax sieboldi(IndVal=0.7200,P=0.010),Catalpa bungei(IndVal=0.6000,P=0.001) and P.armandi(IndVal=0.6000,P=0.001) were indicators for conifer-broadleaved mixture.Broadleaved forest included Liquidambar formosana stand,Quercus acutissima stand,Robinia pseudoacacia stand and Sorbus alnifolia stand,in which they themselves were indicators of related stand types.No statistically significant difference was found among the six stand types in their abundance and species richness,while the diversity indices of Fisher α,Shannon-Wiener and Simpson were significantly different among these stand types.The highest Fisher α index and Shannon-Wiener index were found in broadleaved stand types,whose Simpson index was the lowest.Fisher α and Shannon-Wiener indexes showed no statistically significant differences among the other stand types,i.e.P.thunbergii stands,P.densiflora stands,Larix kaempfer/Cunninghamia lanceolata stands,conifer-Quercus acutissima mixed stands and conifer-broadleaved mixture.The formation of diverse forest stand types mainly resulted from anthropogenic disturbance about 30 years ago,when new species were introduced and many trees were planted.