Spatial distribution and environmental interpretation of wild Sinojackia xylocarpa communities based on self-organizing map (SOM)

doi:10.17520/biods.2018019

Abstract

Abstract:

A self-organizing map (SOM) based on field investigations was adopted to analyze the numerical classification and ordination of wild Sinojackia xylocarpa communities in the Nanjing Laoshan Forest Park in hopes of illuminating the relationship between the wild communities and environmental conditions. The results show that the 100 quadrats were divided into five associations, spatially reflecting the successional trend of wild S. xylocarpa communities. The association boundary, community structure and species composition differed significantly among communities. Through visualizing environmental gradients, the altitude, slope position and soil thickness were found to be the main factors affecting the growth and distribution of S. xylocarpa in this area, though the relationships differed among dominant species. The SOM removes the restrictive assumptions of many quantitative techniques so that the neural network is attractive to the community ecological characteristics and the interrelationship between community and environment can be explored. Based on the potential of SOM for vegetation data classification and, to a lesser extent, ordination, the SOM can aid in the conservation of endangered plants across different community types.

Key words: Sinojackia xylocarpa, environmental factor, self-organizing map, wild community, gradient analysis

Guodong Yang, Xinyue Ji, Lin Chen, Yuqian Zhong, Feifei Zhai, Xiangui Yi, Xianrong Wang. Spatial distribution and environmental interpretation of wild Sinojackia xylocarpa communities based on self-organizing map (SOM)[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2018, 26(12): 1268-1276.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2018019

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2018/V26/I12/1268

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 The location of the natural population of Sinojackia xylocarpa in Nanjing Laoshan Forest Park

Fig. 2 The sketch map 1-ha sample plot of Sinojackia xylocarpa based on MATLAB modeling (The red area is plot)

Fig. 3 The clustering pattern in the self-organizing maps (a) and the hierarchical clustering structure according to different factors (b)

Fig. 4 Clustering algorithm evaluation index Davies-Bouldin index (DBI) (a) and comparison of relationships among clusters and environmental variables (b)

Fig. 5 Map of the five associations at the scale of 10 m × 10 m in the 1 ha Sinojackia xylocarpa plot. A: Original; B: Revised.

Fig. 6 Visualization of environmental variables on the trained self-organizing map (SOM) ordination diagram in gray scales

Fig. 7 Gradient distributions of dominant species in the trained self-organizing map (SOM) ordination diagram in gray scales

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