Species Diversity And Spatial Distribution Of Landscape Trees In Zhejiang University’s GreenSpace

Universities, as an important component of city, could make significant contributions to biodiversity conservation and culture exchange. Species diversity and plantation design in campus has been well studied, but little has been known about how green patches affect floristic diversity and tree composition. Zhejiang University accommodating generous landscape planting in its campuses, presents a breath-taking scenery. The independent tree management regime moulds a tree stock that diverges from the general tree population in urban landscape. This study analyzed species composition, floristic diversity, amenity-ecological attributes, and landscape application of trees in green space in three campuses (Zijingang, Yuquan and Huajiachi) of Zhejiang University.A total of 28958 trees in 784 green patches were surveyed, belonging to 196 species,118 genera and 51 families. The species richness in campus was comparable to urban park trees around West Lake in Hangzhou. Considering the limited area and a relatively short development history of the campus, species diversity was considered as very high. Domination by a small group of popular trees was accompanied by a large cohort of rare species occurring in few patches. Tree profile was skewed toward native species (60.9%) and trees (64.3%). The species were divided into five groups according to Relative Abundance. The most abundant species in Zijingang, Yuquan and Huajiachi were Osmanthus fragrans, Osmanthus fragrans and Cinnamonum camphora. respectively. Osmanthus fragrans achieved the highest frequency in three campuses. The most pronounced amenity-ecological characteristics were handsome tree form and hardiness.Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) demonstrated no significant differentiation among tree communities in green space in three campuses. There were positive relationship between species richness, tree number, patch perimeter and patch area for each campus and for three campuses, indicating that species-area curves were applied to artificial ecosystems. Patch shape and configuration also had notable effect on species diversity. Diverse habitat types, coupled with human modification such as satisfaction of designed site functions and preference of landscape designer, offered principal determinants of tree heterogeneity in green patches.Regarding green patch as basic research unit, this paper revealed patch attributes (size, shape,configuration, habitat, etc) have vital impact on floristic diversity and tree composition in campus. The findings could shed light on strategies to augment landscape planting in campus and urban biodiversity conservation.