Community structure of three different forests in Tonglu,Zhejiang Province

To determine the difference of the growth conditions between evergreen broad-leaved forest,coniferous forest and mixed wood,nine sample sites(which is 20 m × 20 m plot) were selected for three different forest communities in Tonglu County,Zhejiang Province to compare community diversity,species composition,and population distribution patterns.Through specific data analysis,results showed that(1) for plant spatial distribution,young plants mainly dominated the evergreen broadleaf forest,old-tall trees dominated the coniferous forest,and a mixture of both young and old-tall trees were found in the mixed forest.(2) The largest importance values for species among the mixed,the evergreen broadleaf,and the coniferous forests were:Loropetalum chinensis(31.27%),Castanopsis sclerophylla(47.00%),and Pinus massoniana(96.92%).(3) Species richness for the evergreen broadleaf forest was greatest in the tree layer;whereas in the coniferous forest species richness in the shrub and herb layers was largest.Also,(4) most of the species in the mixed and broadleaf forests were randomly distributed with Pinus massoniana in the coniferous forest found mainly in clusters.[Ch,2 fig.3 tab.17 ref.]