Relationship between community type of wetland plants and site elevation on sandbars of the East Dongting Lake, China

Plant communities on sandbars were important, and restoration of degraded wetland were significant to biological conservation in the East Dongting Lake region. In this study, typical wetland community types on sandbars and their site elevation were surveyed to explore relationship between community distribution and site elevation. Results show that eight major communities in this region were wetland communities dominated by Juncus effusus, Carex brevicuspis, Polygonum hydropiper, Salix triandra, Oenanthe Javanica, Phalaris arundinacea, Miscanthus sacchariflorus and Phragmites communis respectively. These communities had obvious constructive species and companion species, while site elevation could affect community composition and their species diversity. On sandbars in the East Dongting Lake, vegetation was largely composed of hygrophytes companied with a few mesophytes. The higher the site elevation was, the nearer the site was to the water, and the lower community diversity became. Except soil humidity and site elevation, growth period of plants after inundation could also affect species richness in the communities.