Relationship Between Vegetation Community Distribution Patterns and Environmental Factors in Typical Wetlands of Poyang Lake, China

Abstract

Poyang lake is the largest freshwater lake in China, possessing global ecological functions. Impact of soil characteristics on vegetation distribution is potentially important but is poorly understood in this typical vast water-passing lake wetland. To explore the relationships between soil properties and vegetation distribution, soil moisture, soil nutrients, species construction, diversity and biomass were measured monthly in two dominant vegetation communities, namely, the Artemisia selengensis community and the Carex cinerascens community. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and spearmen correlation were performed to evaluate the relationships between vegetation characteristics and edaphic variables. Results showed great heterogeneity in the ecological characteristics of plants. There are positive relationships between soil nutrients and ecological characteristics of plants, especially the biomass and the maximum height of the dominant species. Cynodon dactylon and Artemisia selengensis were mainly distributed in the upland with lower nutrient concentration and moisture content, whereas Cardamine lyrate, Triarrhena Lutarioriparia and Carex cinerascens were mainly found near the lake shore where the moisture and nutrients accumulated, demonstrating a legible zonal distribution along the edaphic gradient. The findings have provided an extension to the existing literatures, improving the understanding of the potentially crucial edaphic effects on vegetation in Poyang lake wetlands.