Abstract: Based on the survey of community plots, a quantitative analysis of endangered Acanthopanax senticosus communities in Dongling Mountain was performed with two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The communities of A. senticosus were classified into 9 types by TWINSPAN, and the results were validated by DCA. On the DCA graph, the first axis reflected the gradient of altitude, and the second axis reflected the aspect and slope. A. senticosus was more distributed in the thick forests at high altitude and with low light. Except as a dominant species of shrub layer in a few communities, A. senticosus had a relatively less distribution. With accordance to DCA, the results of CCA also showed the trend that the distribution of A. senticosus communities changed with the gradient of environmental factors. Altitude and light were the main factors affecting A. senticosus growth.

Key words: Oxalate, Phosphatase, Soil colloid, Minerals, Adsorption, Activity