IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i5p1988-d1347781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Differential Analysis of Island Mountain Plant Community Characteristics: Ecological Sensitivity Perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Jinyan Liu

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China
    College of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Quanzhou Normal University, 398 Donghai Rd., Quanzhou 362000, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Junyi Li

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Daoyuan Chen

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China)

  • Linye Guo

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China)

  • Guochang Ding

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China)

  • Jianwen Dong

    (College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 63 Xiyuangong Rd., Fuzhou 350002, China)

Abstract

Island plants form the foundation for maintaining the ecology of an island. With the development of the island’s infrastructure, its ecosystems become damaged to a certain extent. A comprehensive understanding of island habitats and plant community characteristics is crucial for the development of island plant communities. This paper focuses on Pingtan Island in Fujian Province, China, as the research subject. Firstly, considering the significance of the wind environment on the island, this study constructed a wind environment model for the entire island of Pingtan to evaluate the ecological sensitivity from a macro perspective. Subsequently, 33 typical sample plots were selected based on different ecologically sensitive areas to conduct a micro-survey and the characterization of the montane plant communities on Pingtan Island. The findings reveal that (1) Pingtan Island’s ecological sensitivity is dominated by areas with ecological insensitivity (35.72%), moderate ecological sensitivity (33.99%), and high ecological sensitivity (18.02%). The soil texture, wind environment, and land use type are the primary influencing factors in the ecological sensitivity of Pingtan Island. (2) A total of 47 families, 82 genera, and 93 species of plants were investigated in a typical sample site in the mountainous area of Pingtan Island. The plant community structure was dominated by the successional stage of shrubs and herbs. There is some similarity in the plant composition of different ecologically sensitive areas. High ecologically sensitive areas have more species. As sensitivity increases, the dominant species in the three ecologically sensitive areas continue to undergo plant succession from Acacia confusa to Pinus thunbergii to Eurya emarginata . (3) Both community characteristics and species diversity vary between sensitive areas. The canopy density (CD) and the mean height of tree layer (MHTL) are higher in moderate ecologically sensitive areas. The mean tree diameter at breast height (MDBH) and the mean height of shrub layer (MHSL) are higher in high ecologically sensitive areas, while the mean height of herb layer (MHHL) is higher in extreme ecologically sensitive areas. Four diversity indicators increase with increasing sensitivity. In the moderate and high ecologically sensitive areas, Casuarina equisetifolia and A. confusa thrive, with Pinus thunbergii showing the opposite trend. However, species diversity is better characterized by A. confusa and P. thunbergii , with C. equisetifolia being the least diverse. Both the community characteristics and species diversity of P. thunbergii are optimal in extreme ecologically sensitive areas. In this study, the ecological sensitivity of Pingtan Island and the characteristics of montane plant communities were systematically analyzed to explore more stable montane plant communities on the island, aiming to provide a scientific basis and model reference for the ecological restoration and sustainable development of Pingtan Island and other islands.

Suggested Citation

  • Jinyan Liu & Junyi Li & Daoyuan Chen & Linye Guo & Guochang Ding & Jianwen Dong, 2024. "Differential Analysis of Island Mountain Plant Community Characteristics: Ecological Sensitivity Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-25, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1988-:d:1347781
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1988/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1988/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guoyi Wei & Zhao Yang & Chaozhong Liang & Xuewei Yang & Shuiming Zhang, 2022. "Urban Lake Scenic Protected Area Zoning Based on Ecological Sensitivity Analysis and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Chaohu Lake Basin, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    2. He Huang & Yanzhi Xiao & Guochang Ding & Lingyun Liao & Chen Yan & Qunyue Liu & Yaling Gao & Xiangcai Xie, 2023. "Comprehensive Evaluation of Island Habitat Quality Based on the Invest Model and Terrain Diversity: A Case Study of Haitan Island, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tianshu Liu & Xiangbin Peng & Junjie Li, 2024. "Evaluation of Ecological Sensitivity and Spatial Correlation Analysis of Landscape Patterns in Sanjiangyuan National Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-16, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1988-:d:1347781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.