Niche Characteristics of Berchemiella wilsoni var.pubipetiolata,An Endangered Species in China

Shannon-Wiener coefficient of niche breadth and Levins coefficient of niche overlap were used to study the niche characteristics of Berchemiella wilsoni var.pubipetiolata based on large numbers of plot investigations in Huoshan and Shucheng of Anhui Province,Tuankou and Maxiao of Zhejiang Province,China.The results showed that(1)the niche breadth of B.wilsoni var.pubipetiolata were narrow in Huoshan,Shucheng and Tuankou,except Maxiao,(2)the niche overlap between B.wilsoni var.pubipetiolata and a few other species with narrow niche breadth were great.Moreover,at all communities,main dominant species had also narrow niche breadth too,and the values of niche overlap for these dominant species with most associated species were very small,including B.wilsoni var.pubipetiolata,and(3)the niche differentiation among all the species was obvious.In conclusion,B.wilsoni var.pubipetiolata had weak ability to utilize resources because of its small niche breadth value,niche specialization and poor competition with the other species,and human disturbance and niche specificity are greatly related to the species endangerment.