Relationship between species richness of plant functional groups and landscape patterns in a tropical forest of Hainan Island, China

The number of species and functional group (FG) classification were obtained from 135 grid sample plots (58 225 individuals) in a tropical forest landscape of Hainan Island, China in order to study the effects of landscape patterns of habitat types on species richness of woody plant FGs. Correlation between species richness and landscape pattern metrics were analysed by principal component and multiple linear regression analyses. The predominant determinants of species richness in different FGs were percentage of landscape, edge density (ED), total edge contrast index (TECI) and area-weighted mean shape index. The climax species were more sensitive to landscape fragmentation than the pioneer species in terms of species richness change. The species richness in the climax species increased markedly with increasing diversity and complexity of patches. In contrast, as ED and TECI increased, pioneer species slightly increased, but climax species and the total number of species decreased. This study further confirmed the prime role of landscape metrics in predicting the distribution of species richness in different FGs.