Scale-dependent spatial patterns of species diversity in the tropical montane rain forest in Jianfengling, Hainan Island, China

Abstract

Aims Spatial distribution patterns and formation mechanisms of species diversity are fundamental issues in community ecology. The objectives of this study are to assess the species diversity patterns at the different spatial scales in Jianfengling, Hainan Island, China. Methods Based on the dataset from the 60 hm plot in the tropical montane rain forest in Jianfengling, Hainan Island, the spatial distribution patterns of species richness, species abundance, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and Pielou’s evenness indices were analyzed at six spatial scales, including 5 m × 5 m, 10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, 40 m × 40 m, 100 m × 100 m, and 200 m × 200 m, respectively. Important findings Results showed that spatial distribution patterns of species richness, species abundance and Shannon-Wiener index were much more obviously changed with the spatial scales than Simpson and Pielou’s evenness indices. Change of variance of the species richness with the increase of spatial scales was unimodal, which had the maximum value at the 20 m × 20 m scale. Variance of the species abundance showed a linear relationship with the increase of spatial scales. The positive relationship between species richness and abundance gradually decreased and even disappeared with the increase of sampling scales, which may be correlated with the increase of habitat heterogeneity. The effects of spatial scales on Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, and Pielou’s evenness indices may be also correlated with the composition of rare species in the plot.