Abstract: To clarify the species diversity change and its influential drivers along the succession of Phyllostachys glauca forest, bamboobroadleaved mixed forest and broadleaved forest in a limestone mountain in Ruichang City, Jiangxi Province, China, we analyzed the species composition, diversity index and environmental factors in fifteen plots from the three succession stages. The results showed that the numbers of species, genus and family increased from P. glauca forest to broadleaved forest. The woody plant diversity and herbaceous plant diversity increased from P. glauca forest to broadleaved forest, with the exception of the Simpson index and Pielou index of herbaceous plant, which were the highest at the middle succession stage of bamboobroadleaved mixed forest. On the contrary, the community similarity decreased along the succession series because of the accelerated species turnover rate. The species richness of community and herbaceous layer, and Shannon index of herbaceous plants were closely related to soil depth and rock coverage in the succession process of P. glauca forest. Our findings indicated that the soil formation and improvement may be the major driver of increased plant diversity during the succession from P. glauca forest to broadleaved forest in the limestone mountain.

Key words: break trend analysis, extreme climatic events, temporal and spatial variations, climate change, Songnen Grassland