Abstract
Plant communities and their environments are a vital part of synecology research. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of three typical medicinal perennial herbs, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Rheum altaicum, and Ferula sinkiangensis, and examined their response to local soil properties in Altay Prefecture, China. A total of 29 species belonging to 15 families and 25 genera were recorded. In terms of the target medicinal plants, the importance value was low and community structures were exceedingly simple. Quantitative classification based on WARD cluster analysis suggested that each medicinal plant can be classified into one of three types: annual herbaceous, perennial herbaceous, and subshrub or shrub. Interestingly, the plants gradually transformed from exhibiting nonresistance to xerophytes or halophytes. An investigation of the soil properties beneath the medicinal plants showed that nutrients in black soil were much more abundant than those in sandy and saline soil. Except for leaching phenomenon, the nutrient contents in the soil surface layer (0–10 cm) were higher than those in deep layers (10–20 cm and 20–40 cm), and to some extent, the nutrient contents were inversely proportional to the depth of the soil. The redundancy analysis (RDA) results of the medicinal plants and their relationship with soil properties indicated that the main soil variables impacting the distribution of G. uralensis were available potassium (AK), aspect (ASP), soil moisture (SM), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP); SM, electric conductivity (EC), elevation (ELE), ASP, pH value (pH), available nitrogen (AN), soil organic content (SOC), and the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio had positive effects on the distribution of R. altaicum. F. sinkiangensis grew better in habitats with high contents of SM, EC, TN, AN, available phosphorus (AP), total potassium (TK), and AK. This study aimed at providing effective suggestions for artificial cultivation, conservation, and resilience of Chinese medicinal plants.
Highlights
Vegetation characteristics of plant communities are the products of the interaction between plants and their living environments within a succession of community structure and changes in biodiversity [1,2]
G. uralensis is widely distributed in Altay Prefecture, R. altaicum is a distinctive traditional Chinese herb belonging to Rheum L., and F. sinkiangensis is a medicinal plant in Altay Prefecture
We addressed the following two questions in this study: (1) What is the species composition of three medicinal plant communities, e.g., G. uralensis, R. altaicum, and F. sinkiangensis, in northwestern China? (2) How do the vegetation characteristics of the three medicinal plant communities respond to local soil properties, especially soil nutrients? This research provides a theoretical basis for the protection and sustainable utilization of traditional medicinal plant resources
Summary
Vegetation characteristics of plant communities are the products of the interaction between plants and their living environments within a succession of community structure and changes in biodiversity [1,2]. Zuo et al (2012) reported that the composition of a plant community was determined collectively by soil physical and chemical properties such as soil TN, C/N, pH, and SOC [18]. G. uralensis is widely distributed in Altay Prefecture, R. altaicum is a distinctive traditional Chinese herb belonging to Rheum L., and F. sinkiangensis is a medicinal plant in Altay Prefecture. These are typical representatives of the medicinal plants in this region. We addressed the following two questions in this study: (1) What is the species composition of three medicinal plant communities, e.g., G. uralensis, R. altaicum, and F. sinkiangensis, in northwestern China? (2) How do the vegetation characteristics of the three medicinal plant communities respond to local soil properties, especially soil nutrients? The details of the investigation included the (1fo) lloPwlainngt :species, abundance, height, crown width, herb layer coverage, and shrub layer coverage. (2) Accurate positioning, elevation, aspect, and soil type of each sample site. (1) Plant species, abundance, height, crown width, herb layer coverage, and shrub layer coverage. (2) Accurate positioning, elevation, aspect, and soil type of each sample site
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