A Preliminary Vegetation-Ecological Study of Davidia involucrata Forest

Davidia involucrata is a rare endangered species belonging to the paleo-tropical flora of the Tertiary period, endemic to China, and has an important protection and ornamental value. However, the natural populations and distribution areas of this ancient plant have been decreased sharply, because it suffers much disturbance from human activity in many regions. In this paper, data on Davidia involucrata forest in its most natural distribution areas were collected; the percentages of geographical areal types of seed-plant genera (Sensu Wu 1991) were summed; the community types were summarized using Braun-Blanquet methodology; and the geographical differentiation among communities was analyzed by detrended canonical correspondence analysis. The analysis of geographical types shows that temperate species are dominant and that tropical species also make up a high percentage. This indicates that Davidia involucrata forest is mainly temperate vegetation. In total, 16 communities were recognized by classification, and these communities were usually dominated by deciduous broad-leaved species, sometimes mixed with some evergreen species. The shrub layer of Davidia involucrata forest is generally occupied by bamboos. The geographical patterns among the communities are influenced mainly by temperature and moisture availability, and the forest is most likely to grow in warm, humid habitats.