A new model of dynamic of plant biodiversity in changing farmlands: Implications for the management of plant biodiversity along differential environmental gradient in the Yellow River of Henan Province in the spring

Abstract

The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) is often used as a model or investigating the linkages between disturbance intensity and biodiversity. However, the relationship between plant diversity and disturbance gradient makes it difficult to compare data from different researches and draw general models. It is importance to assess the relationship between disturbance gradients and herbaceous species diversity in the farmland center/farmland ridge/farmland boundary on varying spatial scales long the Yellow River watershed ecosystem of Henan Province in the arctic. Using community ecology techniques and quantitative measurements of disturbance, results show a linear relationship between weighted values of disturbance intensity and herbs species diversity (Shannon index), which were significantly, negatively correlated (P<0.01) in the differential ecosystem types (farmland center/farmlandridge/farmland boundary) along differential disturbance gradient. Thus, understanding a linear relationship between herbs diversity dynamics and disturbance gradient in the differential type’s landscapes is important for further research of local ecosystem functions and the goal of agricultural sustainable development in the context of biodiversity conservation. These results indicated that a synthesis quantitative index of disturbance (e.g. weighting values of disturbance) is the most essential environmental factors affecting herbs species diversity in the ecosystem to building a model. Therefore, this model plays a vital part in conserving global biodiversity and maintaining global ecosystem function.

Key words: Model, herbs species diversity, disturbance gradient, significantly, the Yellow River.