Abstract:In order to understand the effect factors on the relationship between plant adaptation mechanism and spatial pattern within population, epigenetic variation characteristics of two populations of Castanopsis chinensis at different succession stages in Dinghushan were analyzed by using DNA methyl-sensitive amplified fragment polymorphism (MSAP). The results showed that the contribution of microhabitats to epigenetic variation decreased from 20.2% in mature forests to 15.7% in over-mature forests, but the influence of topographic factors increased. At the same time, the environmental factors in microhabitats that played a significant role to methylation variation were different between the two forests. So, it was suggested that microhabitat characteristics had partial significant effects on population adaptation mechanism and distribution pattern, and did the succession stage.