Environmental factors driving the succession and differentiation of ecological strategy spectrum in tropical lowland rain forest

We aimed to determine the environmental driving factors underpinning successional changes in a tropical lowland rain forest in Hainan. Using hectare scale plots, we evaluated woody plant community composition and collected a variety of environmental variables. We found that the ecological strategy spectrum of communities in the four succession stages differentiated along the C-S axis, but no major communities were found in the R strategy group. The spectrum of ecological strategy of different communities is significantly different with succession, among which C strategy group is on the rise, S strategy group is on the decline, and the intermediate (INT) group strategy is on the rise after the first decline. For the C strategy group, population density and canopy openness explain most of the differences. The S strategy group are explained by slope and population density, while the first two explanatory factors of intermediate strategy group differences are slope and soil total po-tassium content. The change of plant ecological strategy is the result of comprehensive action of biotic factors, topographic factors and soil factors, among which biotic factors play a leading role.

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify the environmental driving factors behind successional changes in a tropical lowland rainforest in Hainan. Using large-scale plots, we assessed the composition of woody plant communities and collected various environmental variables. We found that the ecological strategy spectrum of communities differed along the C-S axis in the four succession stages, with no major communities falling under the R strategy group. The change in plant ecological strategy is influenced by the interplay of biotic factors, topographic factors, and soil factors, with biotic factors playing a leading role.