Abstract:

Anthropogenic disturbance measures have effects on biological relationships, resource patterns and ecological processes of ecosystems, causing changes of species spatial distribution pattern. To reveal the effects of different disturbance measures on species composition and the distribution patterns of dominant species, we selected three Phyllostachys edulis forests that had been subject to different types of disturbance, i.e. without weeding for many years (Forest_no), hilltop weeding (Forest_hilltop), and herbicide weeding (Forest_herbicide), and analyzed spatial distribution patterns of the understory plant species. A total of 74 species belonging to 58 genera and 47 families were recorded across forest types. The forest_herbicide type contained the most abundant species, while in the forest_no type importance values ??and coverage of dominant arbor and shrub species were highest, whereas importance values ??and coverage of dominant herb species were lowest. Cunninghamia lanceolata, the common dominant arbor species in all three types of forest, tended to show a clumped pattern in both the forest_no and the forest_herbicide types (though not significantly so), but was randomly distributed in the forest_hilltop type. Rubus reflexus, the common dominant shrub species, clumped strongly in both the forest_no and the forest_hilltop types, but not significantly so in the forest_herbicide type. Melastoma dodecandrum and Dicranopteris dichotoma, the common dominant herb species, were strongly clumped in all three forest types. The proportion of dominant species showing a uniform distribution was highest in the forest_no type. We suggest that anthropogenic hilltop weeding measure can be used for understory vegetation interference and the sustainable management of bamboo.

Key words: Phyllostachys edulis, understory plants, anthropogenic disturbance, weeding, species composition, distribution pattern