Plant Communities and Factors Responsible for Vegetation Pattern in an Alpine Area of the Northwestern Himalaya  

作　　者：Man S.RANA S.S.SAMANT Y.S.RAWAT 

机构地区：[1]Department of Plant Science,Government Degree College [2]G.B.Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development [3]Department of Botany,D.S.B.Campus,Kumaun University

出　　处：《Journal of Mountain Science》2011年第6期817-826,共10页山地科学学报（英文）

摘　　要：The study intended to describe the alpine vegetation of a protected area of the northwestern Himalaya and identify the important environmental variables responsible for species distribution.We placed random plots covering different habitats and altitude to record species composition and environmental variables.Vegetation was classified using hierarchical cluster analysis and vegetation-environment relationships were evaluated with Canonical Correspondence Analysis.Four communities,each in alpine shrub and meadows were delineated and well justified in the ordination plots.Indicator species for the different communities were identified.Maximum species richness and diversity were found in community IV among shrub communities and community II among the meadows.Studied environmental variables explained 61.5% variation in shrub vegetation and 59.8% variation in meadows.Soil variables explained higher variability (～35%) than spatial variables (～21%) in both shrubs and meadows.Altitude,among the spatial variables and carbon/nitrogen ratio and nitrogen among the soil variables explained maximum variation.About 40% variations left unexplained.Latitude and species diversity among the other variables had significant correlation with ordination axes.Study showed that altitude and C/N ratio played a significant role in species composition.Extensive sampling efforts and inclusion of other non-studied variables are also suggested for better understanding.

关 键 词：Species diversity Indicator species Environmental variable ORDINATION Explainedvariation 

分 类 号：Q948[生物学—植物学]