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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2020, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (5): 1691-1698.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202005.033

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Species richness and influencing factors of aquatic plant in the Kaidu River Basin, Xinjiang, China

LI Yu-hui1, HAO Tao2, GONG Xu-sheng1, YANG Yu-jing1, LI Zhong-qiang1*   

  1. 1Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Regional Development and Environmental Response, Faculty of Resources and Environment, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China;
    2Wildlife Conservation Chief Station of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430079, China
  • Received:2019-10-08 Online:2020-05-15 Published:2020-05-15
  • Contact: * E-mail: lizhq@hubu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31570366, 31270261) and the Young and Middle-aged Science & Technology Innovation Team Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education (T201701).

Abstract: River is a continuous, flowing, unique, and complete ecosystem. Studies on the aquatic macrophyte richness and its influencing factors were important for river ecology study. In this study, species richness, main aquatic plant community types and their quantitative characteristics, and the influencing factors of aquatic macrophyte in the Kaidu River Basin, Xinjiang, were examined by field investigation. We followed the water-energy hypothesis and habitat heterogeneity hypothesis to explain the geographical pattern of species diversity in the basin. The results showed that there were 71 species of aquatic plants belonging to 24 families and 39 genera in the Kaidu River Basin. The aquatic macrophyte communities could be divided into 10 main community types by cluster analysis, among which Phragmites australis association had the highest species richness, and Typha angustifolia association and Ceratophyllum demersum association had the lowest species richness. Shannon index of the aquatic macrophyte community of Kaidu River Basin was significantly negatively correlated with water pH. Simpson index was significantly negatively correlated with pH and longitude, and significantly positively correlated with altitude. The aquatic plant community types in the basin were mainly affected by altitude, water depth, and water temperature. The species diversity changed little in altitude and longtitude. The water-energy dynamic hypothesis and habitat heterogeneity hypothesis together explained 31.4% of the richness patterns of macrophytes, indicating low exploratory power.

Key words: aquatic plant, community characteristics, water-energy dynamic hypothesis, habitat heterogeneity hypothesis, species diversity, river ecosystem