SPATIAL PATTERN OF THE PLANT COMMUNITY ALONG A SAND-COVERED HILLSLOPE IN ORDOS PLATEAU OF CHINA
鄂尔多斯高原覆沙坡地植物群落格局

Landform plays an important role in regulating the spatial pattern of plant community. Quantifying the spatial pattern of plant community along the sand_covered hillslope can give useful information about the relationship between vegetation and environment as well as making powerful measures of rehabilitations of the degraded land. In this paper, the spatial pattern of plant community along a sand_covered hillslope in Ordos Plateau of China was analyzed. The higher position was a typical steppe community dominated by Stipa bungeana , Artemisia frigida , and Gypsophila desertorum , while the lower position was a psammophytes' community dominated by Artemisia ordosica . First axis of DCA (Detrended Correspondence Analysis) was significantly correlated with the geomorphic position. In addition, first axis scores of DCA, as a useful index of species composition, showed strong spatial dependence.