生物多样性 ›› 2004, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (2): 290-300.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2004035

• 论文 • 上一篇    

热带森林植物多样性及其维持机制

项华均,安树青*,王中生,郑建伟,冷欣,卓元午   

  1. (南京大学生命科学学院,南京 210093)
  • 收稿日期:2003-06-25 修回日期:2003-12-29 出版日期:2004-03-20 发布日期:2004-03-20
  • 通讯作者: 安树青

Plant diversity and the mechanism for its maintenance in tropical forests

XIANG Hua-Jun, AN Shu-Qing*, WANG Zhong-Sheng, ZHENG Jian-Wei, LENG-Xin, ZHUO Yuan-Wu   

  1. College of Life Sciences,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210093
  • Received:2003-06-25 Revised:2003-12-29 Online:2004-03-20 Published:2004-03-20
  • Contact: AN Shu-Qing

摘要: 热带森林具有地球上最丰富的植物多样性。关于热带森林植物多样性的维持机制,虽有众多假说,但均未形成完善的理论体系。不同的学者从不同的角度出发得出了许多结论,但也引起了不少争议。本文主要简述了4种经常被用来解释热带森林高植物多样性的机制:生态位分化、取食压力、生活史负相关和随机竞争,每一种机制都有大量的证据支持。热带森林植物沿微环境梯度的非随机空间分布表明其生态位分化很明显,并对其多样性起重要作用。动物的取食降低母树周围同种幼苗的生长率和存活率,为其他物种存活提供了机会,这就是取食压力假说,这是一个极有前景但仍需大量实验验证的假说。生活史负相关使得热带森林的许多植物能够共存。冠层植物的抑制使得随机性在林下植物的建立过程中起决定作用。

AbstractIt is well known that plant species diversity is highest in tropical forests. With regard to the mechanisms for the maintenance of tropical plant diversity, different hypotheses have been put forward, but until now, no convincing theory has appeared. Different researchers have obtained different conclusions, from which has arisen heated debate. This review discusses four mechanisms that are frequently invoked to explain the coexistence of the great number of plant species in tropical forests, these being Niche differentiation, Predatory pressure, Life history tradeoffs, and Lottery competition. Niche differentiation is evident from the nonrandom spatial distributions along microenvironmental gradients and plays an important role in sustaining high biodiversity. Pests reduce the survival and growth rate of seedlings near conspecific adults, thereby freeing space for other plant species. Pest pressure remains a promising but not widely proven mechanism for plant coexistence in tropical forests. Life history tradeoffs do occur among tropical forest plants, and thus allow a large number of species to coexist. Suppressed by the canopy, understory plants rarely come into competition with one another, and chance becomes an important determinant of the recruitment of understory plants.