Niche and Interspecific Association of Spontaneous Herbaceous Plants in Fuzhou Section of Minjiang River

Abstract:

In order to understand the function, composition and succession trend of autoherbous community in Fuzhou section of the Minjiang River, the ecological niche, interspecific association and community stability of autoherbous communities were studied by using niche determination, variance ratio (VR), χ² test, association coefficient (AC), Spearman rank correlation test and M. Godron stability methods. The results showed that niche similarity and niche overlap index of dominant species in autoherbous communities were generally low, and inter-specific competition was not intense. Most of the species with large importance value and niche width were invasive plants, which were easy to threaten native plants. The dominant species in the community showed no significant positive association on the whole. The results ofχ² test, association coefficient, and Spearman rank correlation showed that the positive association was not obvious, indicating that the interspecific association and stability of the dominant species in the community were weak, and each species tended to distribute independently. The results of M. Godron analysis showed that the community was currently in an unstable state. Due to the harsh conditions along urban river, flooding interference and human disturbance, the autoherbous community was unstable and still in the early stage of succession.

Key words:Mingjiang;Autoherbous plant;Ecological niche;Interspecific association;Community stability