Abstract: Corticolous lichen communities were numerically classified based on species coverage by twoway indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) in habitat of Rhinopithecus roxellana of Shennongjia Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China. Seventeen plots were established, types of lichen communities in these plots were defined, and species richness index, species diversity index and evenness index of each lichen communities were analyzed. The results indicated that: (1) There were 52 lichen species belonging to 21 genera in 12 families in the 17 plots, and these lichen species could be grouped into eight types: Association Ⅰ: Heterodermia tremulans + Hypogymnia hypotrypa; Association Ⅱ: Ramalina sinensis + Parmelina quercina; Association Ⅲ: H. hypotrypa + Lobaria isidiophora; Association Ⅳ: Anzia opuntiella + L. isidiophora + Flavoparmelia caperata; Association Ⅴ: R. calicaris var. japonica + F. caperata; Association Ⅵ: F. caperata + Bryoria asiatica; Association Ⅶ: Cetrelia olivetorum + Cetrelia pseudolivetorum; Association Ⅷ: Hypogymnia hypotrypella + C. cetrarioides. (2) The similarity between association Ⅰ and association Ⅲ was the highest (0.321), followed by association Ⅲ and Ⅳ (0.305). Association Ⅱ and Ⅷ, association Ⅳ and Ⅷ had the lowest similarity (0.000). Species diversity index of association Ⅲ was the highest (2.062), followed by association Ⅴ (2.047), and association Ⅱ (0.721). Evenness index of association Ⅰ (0.809) was the highest, followed by association Ⅴ (0.802), and association Ⅱ was the lowest (0.301). (3) Species diversity of corticolous lichen in R. roxellana habitat of Shennongjia National Nature Reserve was mainly affected by humidity, temperature, illumination and altitude.

Key words: precipitation deficit., cotton water requirement, rainfall insurance rate