ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicPlants in Karst Degraded Habitats: Diversity, Evolution, and Ecological FunctionsView all 4 articles
Functional Diversity of Plant Communities and Species Diversity in Response to Soil Factors at Different Successional Stages in Karst Landscapes
Provisionally accepted
- Guizhou Province Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection and Restoration of Typical Plateau Wetlands, Guizhou University of Engineering Science, Guizhou, China
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Karst plant communities are significantly influenced by habitat heterogeneity. Investigating the effects of species diversity and functional diversity on soil properties is essential for the restoration and conservation of forest ecosystems. Using plant communities at various successional stages in the Doupeng Mountain area of Guizhou Karst, we applied one-way ANOVA, network correlation analysis, redundancy analysis, and structural equation modeling to assess the impact of soil factors on species and functional diversity, as well as the relationships between these diversity metrics, based on data from community surveys. The results showed that: (1) The Simpson, Shannon, Pielou, and Margalef species diversity indices were significantly higher in the tree stage than in the grass and shrub stages. (2) Functional richness and the Rao coefficient differed significantly across successional stages of plant communities and were highest in the tree stage, while functional divergence varied significantly among stages and was highest in the grass stage. (3) As succession progressed, the correlations between species diversity, functional diversity, and soil factors gradually strengthened. Five soil factors—soil nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio, soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, soil bulk density, soil phosphorus content, and soil organic matter—had significant effects on the species diversity index (P < 0.05). Similarly, these five soil factors significantly influenced the functional diversity index (P < 0.05). Additionally, soil phosphorus content, soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, soil nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio, and soil carbon-to-phosphorus ratio were significant factors affecting both community species diversity and functional diversity. This study demonstrated that species diversity and functional diversity of communities at different successional stages in karst landscapes differed significantly and were influenced by soil nutrient content and nutrient allocation.
Keywords: succession, species diversity, functional diversity, Soil factors, karst
Received: 19 Aug 2025; Accepted: 24 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Huang, Ji, Zhou, Liang, Chen, Lv, Tao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Li Li, liligues@gues.edu.cn
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