Study on Niche of the Woody Species in the Major Forest Communities in Zengcheng City

The niche breadth and overlap of the dominant species in the major forest communities of Zengcheng City were studied. Seventy-six 100-m~2 plots, including 28 plots in the secondary forest and 16 plots in plantations of Pinus massoniana,P. elliottii and Albizia falcataria, respectively,were surveyed. The species with the widest niche breadth are Ficus variolosa, Sapium discolor, Diospyros morrisiana, and Listea cubeba, which are light demanding and bird-dispersed species. Most of the trees confined to the secondary forest had narrow niche breadth and overlap. The niche of Albizia falcataria was overlapped with more local species than other plantation species, which indicated that it shared with more local species. We suggest enhancing rehabilitation and development of native forest species by suitable approaches based on their niche differences.