Forest plant communities of the Baohua Mountains, eastern China

Abstract

Abstract. In the forest of the Baohua Reserve in the Baohua Mountains, eastern China, six plant communities and 11 sub‐communities were described using the Braun‐Blanquet method. These communities can be assigned to four already described Chinese vegetation types. Curtis’ Compositional Index (CI) and Shannon's diversity index were used to determine the successional stage and species diversity of the communities. The community of Brachystachyum densiflorum and Pinus massoniana and the subcommunity of Fraxinus chinensis and Quercus acutissima with Pueraria lobata had the lowest CI and would be an initial successional stage; the community of Phoebe sheareri and Cyclobalanopsis glauca had the highest CI and would be the final stage. The community of Brachystachyum densiflorum and Pinus massoniana and the sub‐community of Fraxinus chinensis and Quercus acutissima with Pueraria lobata, both pioneer successional stages, had the lowest species diversity. The climax communities had the highest diversity.