Ss. Young et Sr. Herwitz, FLORISTIC DIVERSITY AND COOCCURRENCES IN A SUBTROPICAL BROAD-LEAVED FOREST AND 2 CONTRASTING REGROWTH STANDS IN CENTRAL-WEST YUNNAN PROVINCE, CHINA, Vegetatio, 119(1), 1995, pp. 1-13
Many of the natural forested ecosystems that still remain in mainland
China are being cleared with potentially detrimental effects on woody
plant species diversity on both local and regional scales. The most ex
tensive stand of subtropical broad-leaved forest remaining in China is
located in Yunnan Province. In an effort to document the influence of
human-induced disturbance on Yunnan's woody flora, floristic inventor
ies were conducted in a stand of primary forest and in regrowth stands
located in its interior and along its outer margin in the Xujiaba Nat
ure Sanctuary in the Ailao Mountain Range. Of particular interest was
the location of the disturbance relative to the primary forest source
area. A total of 134 woody plant species representing 74 genera and 43
families were recorded. The floristics of the two regrowth stands wer
e significantly different from each other, with < 10% of their respect
ive floras comprised of co-occurring species. The interior regrowth st
and had a higher number of co-occurring species with the primary fores
t; however, > 40% were still non-co-occurring. The principal families
represented in the primary forest and the interior regrowth stand were
Aquifoliaceae, Berberidaceae, Fagaceae, Lauraceae, Rosaceae, Smilacac
eae, Symplocaceae, Theaceae, and Vacciniaceae. The three dominant spec
ies with relative importance values ranging from > 5% to 18% in both t
he primary forest and the interior regrowth stand were Castanopsis wat
tii, Lithocarpus jingdongensis, and Symplocos sumuntia. The edge regro
wth stands had the lowest species diversity and were dominated by the
native pine Pinus yunnanensis, with a relative importance of 24%. The
principal families represented in the edge regrowth stand were Betulac
eae, Ericaceae, Fagaceae, Myricaceae, Pinaceae, and Theaceae. Only the
Fagaceae and Theaceae were well-represented in all three stands. The
results of the study document the low species diversity in post-cuttin
g regrowth on the margins of the primary forest as compared with post-
cutting regrowth in the forest interior.