A DISCUSSION ON PLANT DIVERSITY OF TROPICAL MONTANE RAIN FORESTS IN XISHUANGBANNA, YUNNAN

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of a previously published paper on the plant diversity of the tropical montane rain forests in Xishuangbanna, which was based on six sampling plots. The six plots are from quite different habitats at different altitudes and with conspicuously different physiognomic, floristic and species richness characteristics and actually represent different classification types of vegetation. Based on the vegetation classification of Yunnan suggested by Wu (1987), plots I and II, which are dominated by Millettia leptobotrya (Papilionaceae), could represent a secondary tropical seasonal rain forest in the region. Plots V and VI, which are dominated by species of Lauraceae and Fagaceae, could represent the so-called monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, while plots III and IV, which are in the upper montane cloudy zone with dense epiphytic moss plants on the trees, could be a type similar to the mossy evergreen broad-leaved forest. Some other problems in the data analysis and comparisons of biodiversity among the different forest types in the paper also are discussed. However, the results presented in the paper did reveal some characteristics of plant species diversity along altitudinal gradients in tropical montane forests in Xishuangbanna, but the data could not be used for explaining plant diversity of the particular vegetation type of the tropical montane rain forest in Xishuangbanna, Southern Yunnan.