Abstract:
We established 1000 quadrats in 10 hm
2 subtropic evergreen broad-leaved forest located in the Guangdong Kanghe Provincial Natrue Reserve. Using spatial point pattern analysis and marked point pattern analysis with dominant species of
Castanopsis chinensis and
Schima superba, we determined the spatial point pattern of individual and basal area to explore the formation of spatial patterns of snags. The results showed that the most snags of
C. chinensis and
S. superba were those with small DBH, and the abundance of snags decreased with the DBH increased. The snags of
C. chinensis showed an aggregated distribution at the scale of 0−50 m, and the aggregation declined as the scale enlarged; the snags of
S. superba showed randomly distribution at the scale of 4.4−8.6 m and 14.1−50 m, and aggregated at local scale of 0−4.3 m and 8.7−14.0 m. The basal area of
C. chinensis and
S. superba showed that sangs were independent, which indicated no competition among snags.
C. chinensis and
Schima superba died more in their early stages. The formation of snags of these two species might be influenced by dispersal limitation of seeds and density dependence as well as environment filter, the lager trees might die because of intrinsic aging.