Distribution status, driving force, and protection suggestions of vegetation in Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract

To provide support for the drawing of 1:500000 vegetation maps and vegetation protection in Jiangsu, the researchers performed a review on the history of research, distribution pattern, change and driving force of vegetation in Jiangsu Province, according to the research results and field investigation of Jiangsu vegetation in recent years. The series research work of the Jiangsu vegetation map began in 1964, and the final map was published in 2001. Vegetation in Jiangsu includes cultivited vegetation, planted and natural forests, herbaceous swamps, meadows, and sparse shrub grass. Cultivited vegetation is distributed in most flat areas, which mainly includes Zea mays , Triticum aestivum , and Oryza sativa . Natural forests are primarily distributed in Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Yili, and Ningzhen mountains. The natural forests include the coniferous forests such as Pinus massoniana , Pinus densiflora forests; the deciduous broad-leaved forests such as Quercus variabilis , Quercus acutissima , and Liquidambar formosana forests; the evergreen broad-leaved forests such as Quercus glauca and Schima superba forests; the bamboo forests such as Phyllostachys heterocycle forest; the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests such as Pinus massoniana and Quercus variabilis mixed forests; the evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests such as Castanopsis sclerophylla and Quercus glauca mixed forests. Planted forests are mainly distributed in the northern Jiangsu, Lixiahe and coastal plains, including Populus spp, Platycladus orientalis , Cunninghamia lanceolate , and Pinus massoniana forests. The natural wetland vegetation is mainly distributed in the Yancheng coastal wetlands, with Phragmites communis , Spartina anglica , and Spartina alterniflora marshes. Compared with the vegetation in 1983, the area of forests represented by Pinus massoniana , Platycladus orientalis , and Robinia pseudoacacia forests decreased, and herbaceous grasslands and meadows were also drastically reduced. The salt meadows of the coastal wetlands were succeeded by Spartina anglica and Spartina alterniflora swamps, and large areas of agricultural vegetation and a part of the natural forest vegetation were transformed into towns. Human activities led by urbanization affected the distribution pattern of the vegetation in Jiangsu as the major driving force for vegetation change. According to the current situation of natural vegetation in Jiangsu, three suggestions were proposed to protect natural vegetation communities. First, ecological red line protection zones should be established in Nanjing Mufu Mountain, Zhenjiang Baohua Mountain, Lianyungang Shazhou Bay, etc., where the vegetation suffered grave human interference. Second, the development and utilization of herbs and coastal cofferdam, such as Mentha canadensis and Pseudostellaria heterophylla , should be more meticulous. Third, it is necessary to enhance the control of invasive plants, such as Spartina anglica , Solidago canadensis , and Alternanthera philoxeroides .