Structural and Quantity Characteristics of Riparian Zone Broad-leaved Forest Communities under Different Disturbance Intensities in Jiangxi Wuyi Mountain

We investigated the coupling relationship between structural and quantity characteristics of typical riparian zone broad-leaved forest communities under different disturbance intensities. Three river systems were selected in the Jiangxi Wuyi Mountain Nature Reserve in mid-subtropical areas to survey riparian zone broad-leaved forest communities under different disturbance intensities. Results showed there were 93 families, 174 genera, and 304 species of vascular plants, accounting for 41.5%, 18.0%, and 11.9%, respectively, of the reserve's total vascular plants. The species mainly consisted of Fagaceae (6 genera, 22 species), Theaceae (7 genera, 22 species), Lauraceae (6 genera, 16 species), and Rosaceae (8 genera, 16 species). Dominant species of the riparian vegetation communities differed significantly, and endemic species existed in all disturbance intensity sample plots. However, there were no significant differences in the importance values of the dominant species in the tree layer (P> 0.05). The community Jaccard similarity coefficients were between 0.2 and 0.3 under different disturbance intensity sample plots. According to the ANOVA test, the number of species, community Jaccard similarity coefficients, richness index, diversity index, and evenness index were:Minor disturbance > Medium disturbance > No disturbance. However, average height and average DBH of the trees were:No disturbance > Medium disturbance > Minor disturbance. The results suggested that evergreen broad-leaved trees were common in the Jiangxi Wuyi Mountain riparian zone broad-leaved forest. Additionally, there were significant differences in the structural and quantity characteristics of the different disturbance intensity forest communities.