Selection of tree species by principal component analysis for abandoned farmland in southeastern Horqin Sandy Land, China

Abstract

With changes in global climate and land use, the area of desertified farmland in southeastern Horqin Sandy Land (HSL) has increased in recent years, and farmlands are being abandoned. These abandoned farmlands (AFs) negatively impact the local ecology. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to select suitable trees and shrubs for those AFs to prevent and control the desertification tendency. In this study, three AFs were fenced for 2 years, then 37 arbor and shrub species or varieties of 21 families were planted in the fenced AFs and grown for 10 years. The ecological adaptability of the species was evaluated and ranked using a principal component analysis. The results showed that the biodiversity of the AFs significantly improved after 2 years of fencing; the Shannon–Wiener index and species richness of perennial grasses and forbs were 1.45 and 3.6 times higher, respectively, than for the unfenced AF. Among all species planted in fenced AFs, nine tree species had positive comprehensive F (CF) values; Pinus sylvestris (Russian Shira steppe provenance), Populus alba ‘Berolinensis’ and Gleditsia triacanthos had CF greater than 1, and the first (PC1), second (PC2) and third (PC3) principal component values (F1, F2, F3) were all positive. Among the shrubs, only Lespedeza bicolor and Rosa xanthina f. normalis had CF greater than 0. All these results suggest that fencing improves biodiversity and that planting trees and shrubs that have higher CF values on the basis of fencing is an effective way to green and beautify AFs in HSL.