The community features of evergreen broad-leaved forest and the population dynamics of dominant species in Liushitian Nature Reserve of Zhejiang Province

Broad-leaved evergreen forest is a zonal vegetation type and an important part of land ecosystems in subtropics of the world.Based on the data collected from sample plots,the species composition,physiognomy of the community,the spatial distribution and population structure of the dominant species in the evergreen broad-leaved forest in Liushitian Natural Reserve of Zhejiang Province were analysed.The results showed that there were 7 dominant species: Lithocarpus harlandii,Machilus thunbergii,Schima superba,Cyclobalanopsis glauca,Castanopsis carlesii,Phoebe sheareri and Machilus leptophylla,in the evergreen broad-leaved forest in term of the importance value of species.P.brevicaudata and S.superba were the major dominant species in the community.The richness index,biodiversity index and evenness index were on the low side,except ecological dominance index.Phanerophytes occupied a dominant position in the community with a percentage was 85.45% among all life forms;the dominant leaf size was mesophyll whose percentage was 61.82%,followed by microphyll(29.09%);single leaves were dominant in leaf form and the percentage of those was 89.09%.Researches showed that this community belonges to mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest.Because of intra-specific and inter-specific competition,the spatial patterns of the major species in the forest conformed to a random distribution.The population structures of the dominant species were categorized into four regeneration types: inverse pyramid-shaped,inverse J-shaped,spindle-shaped and double peak-shaped,based on their diameter at breast height(D-BH) frequency distribution patterns.The species that belong to the inverse pyramid-shaped and spindle-shaped would be in decline due to lack of seedlings.M.thunbergii and Schima superba,which had abundant seedlings,would be dominant species in the future.