Spatial distributions of species in an old-growth temperate forest, northeastern China

Studying spatial distributions of species can provide important insights into processes and mechanisms that maintain species richness. We used the relative neighborhood density Ω based on the average density of conspecific species in circular neighborhoods around each species to quantify spatial distributions of species with ≥10 individuals in a fully mapped 25 ha temperate plot at Changbaishan, northeastern China. Our results show that spatial aggregation is a dominant pattern of species in the Changbaishan temperate forests. However, the percentage of significantly aggregated species decreases with spatial scale, especially for rare species. Rare species are more aggregated than intermediate and common species. The aggregation intensity declines with increasing size class (diameter at breast height), i.e., species become more regularly spaced as species grow, which is consistent with the predictions of self-thinning and Janzen–Connell spacing effects. Species functional traits (canopy layer, seed dispersal ability, shade tolerant, etc) also havea significant effect on the spatial distributions of species. Our results partially conform to the prediction that better dispersal reduces aggregation. Consequently, dispersal limitation, self-thinning, Janzen–Connell spacing effects, and habitat heterogeneity may primarily contribute to spatial distributions of species in the temperate forests.