The Research On Classification Of Typical Fengshui Forest Community And Vegetation-Environment Relation In Hunan Province

Fengshui forest is the most representative and stable zonal climax vegetation in the habitat of Human beings,which has been protected for decades to hundreds of years because of Fengshui belief.It is precious under the condition of the extremely decline of native vegetation.In this study,typical sampling method was used to systematically investigate the well-preserved Fengshui forest communities in Hunan Province.Based on data of 81 samples,species composition and communities structure of Fengshui forest in Hunan Province were analyzed.The Fengshui forest communities were classified by Flexible clustering and sorted by canonical correspondence analysis(CCA)to analyze the effects of topography and soil to Fengshui forest communities.The results are as follows:(1)The Fengshui forest samples contain 129 families,318 genera,601 species of vascular plants,accounting for 52.87%,26.5%and 15.01%of the vascular plants in Hunan.Among them,14 families,23 genera,31 species belong to gern,6 families,6 genera,6 species belong to gymnosperm,and 109 families,289 genera,564 species belong to angiosperm.Two new plant records of Hunan were found:Gleditsia australis and Smilax austrozhejiangensis.There are also 8 species of national key protected wild plants.Fagaceae,Ulmaceae,Fabaceae,Pistacia chinensis of Anacardiaceae and Liquidambar formosana of Hamamelidaceae are dominant edificators plants in Fengshui forest.(2)The overall diameter scale of the tree layer in the community presents an inverted"J" type distribution,indicating that the regeneration is good and the community is stable.Cyclobalanopsis glauca and Celtis sinensis are expanding population,Pistacia chinensis,Osmanthus fragrans and Cornus wilsoniana are stable,and Liquidambar formana are declining.(3)Fengshui forests in Hunan can be divided into 51 forms,accounting for 34.93%of the total forms in Hunan Province.They can be grouped into three ecologically explicable types:mountain vegetation,which distributes over 900 m above sea level,including 6 forms,and indicator species are Lithocarpus brevicaudatus,Fagus longipetiolata and Cyclobalanopsis sessilifolia,etc.Slate-sand shale vegetation is distributed in slate or sand shale,including 31 forms,and indicator species are Photinia bodinieri,Cyclobalanopsis glauca,Liquidambar formosana,etc.Limestone vegetation is distributed in limestone,including 14 forms,and indicator species are Pistacia chinensis,Cornus wilsoniana,Osmanthus fragrans and Pteroceltis tatarinowii,etc.(4)Topography and bedrock have significant influence on the composition and characteristics of Fengshui forest community.They can explain 29.2%of the characteristics of Fengshui forest,and the other 70.8%of the characteristics of Fengshui forest are composed of human disturbance and other environmental factors.Topography accounts for 62.03%of the total interpretation and bedrock accounts for 47.59%,cross-interpretation accounts for 9.62%.Therefore,the interpretation ability is topography>bedrock,and there is a certain correlation between the topography and bedrock.The explanatory ability of topographic factors is altitude>slope position>slope>slope aspect.This study is the first to systematically explore the distribution,species composition,community characteristics,community classification and vegetation-environment relationship of Fengshui forest in Hunan Province.It can provide scientific reference for the conservation of biodiversity,tree species selection and structure configuration in the process of vegetation restoration and afforestation,and sustainable management of forest resources.It also provides a deep understanding of the relationship between vegetation and environment and coexistence between human and nature.