Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2008, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (04): 437-442.

• 实验简报 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Point Pattern Analysis for a Population of Artemisia halodendron in a Kerqin Sandlot

Yanning Cao, Lisha Shi, Shuo Han, Anyan Hou, Fan Tu, Jintun Zhang   

  1. College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
  • Received:2007-06-12 Revised:2008-01-17 Online:2008-07-01 Published:2008-07-01
  • Contact: Jintun Zhang

Abstract: Artemisia halodendron is mainly distributed on shifting or semi- fixed sand dunes in the Hulunbeier and Kerqin Sandlands of Inner Mongolia. It is a semi-shrub and a valuable species for sand fixation. A. halodendron is a constructive species for controlling the shiftings and dunes during vegetation restoration. In this study, we used point pattern analysis, a multivariate spatial-pattern analysis method, to examine the spatial pattern of A. halodendron in relation to ground conditions. Young individuals are generally aggregated at all scales, and older individuals display a tendency for random distribution. Individuals of the neighboring age classes show no apparent spatial association, whereas individuals of disjunct age classes show a negative spatial association. This pattern is consistent with the spatial pattern of clustered distribution of young individuals but random distribution of adults.