Interspecific Association and Niche of the Natural Caragana korshinskii Community in the Lower Reaches of the Shiyang River

Purpose To explore the resource utilization of Caragana korshinskii community in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River, revealing its structure and stability, and providing a scientific basis for the protection, restoration, and rational utilization of the C. korshinskii community.

Methods Field surveys of C. korshinskii community in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River were carried out, and the interspecific association and niche were studied by the variance ratio method, χ²-test, Ochiai association coefficient, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and niche width and niche overlap degree.

Results The interspecific associations of the C. korshinskii community in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River were extremely significantly positive. C. korshinskii exhibited negative interspecific associations with other species, with the overall community being dominated by negative associations. The interactions between species in the community were relatively weak, and the interspecific connections were loose. The importance value and niche breadth of C. korshinskii were obviously higher than those of other species in the community, which played an important role in community structure and stability. C. korshinskii showed negative associations and correlations with other species due to differences in biological characteristics and ecological adaptability. Interspecific associations between Stipa caucasica, Cleistogene songorica, Allium mongolicum, and Astragalus grubovii exhibited negative associations and correlations, despite having similar biological characteristics and ecological adaptability to similar habitats, primarily due to their highly overlapping niches.

Conclusion The C. korshinskii community in the lower reaches of the Shiyang River River is in a stable state. C. korshinskii plays an important role in the community and plays a key role in the stability of the community.