Relationship between plant species diversity and patch characteristics in a marsh in the Sangjiang Plain,China—Using Yaluhe farm as an example

Based on Quick Bird satellite image data, the present study examined small-scale herbaceous community patches in the marsh of the Sanjiang Plain and measured patch characteristics such as the area, perimeter and shape by GPS. The coenological characteristics of the patches were investigated using quadrat method, and the vascular plant species were recorded using transect method. A total of 219 plant species were recorded, which represents 12.2% of the vascular flora in Heilongjiang Province. Our results showed that species number S correlated with patch area and perimeter; richness index (R) correlated with patch perimeter; Simpson index (D) correlated with patch area and perimeter/area; Shannon-Wiener index (H′) correlated with patch area, perimeter and perimeter/area; Evenness index (Jsw) correlated with perimeter/area. Both S and R have significant difference between different size of patches. Plant diversity in the small-scale herbaceous communities tended to increase with the patch area and perimeter. We concluded that edge effects and the habitat heterogeneity of the patches are important in determining the number of species. The relative smoothness of the patch edges also affects the plant diversity of the patches. The richness of plant species in the marsh in the Sanjiang Plain is highly sensitive to the small-scale patches, which continues to play an important role in preserving plant diversity in the local area.