Environmental Factors Affecting the Abundance and Presence of Tree Species in a Tropical Lowland Limestone and Non-limestone Forest in Ben En National Park, Vietnam

Abstract The effect of environmental variables on the presence and abundance of tree species in a tropical lowland undisturbed limestone and non-limestone forest in Ben En National Park, Vietnam was investigated. The relationships between 13 environmental variables and 29 tree species with a DBH ≥10 cm, as well as between six 6 physical variables with 26 species of seedling and sapling communities were assessed by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Data concerning all tree species ≥10 cm DBH were collected from eighteen 400 m 2 sample plots, while the abundance of regeneration (all individuals ≤5 cm DBH) was counted in fifty 2x20 m strip-plots. The significance of species-environments correlations were tested by distribution-free Monte Carlo tests. The CCA of the 29 examined tree species and 13 environmental variables indicated that the presence and abundance of the tree species were closely related to topographic factors. We may confirm that soil properties including pH, soil moisture content, and soil textures, were the most crucial factor in tree species composition and their distribution. Several species including Pometia pinnata, Amesiodendron chinense, Gironniera cuspidate, Cinnamomum mairei, and Caryodaphnopsis tonkinensis were not controlled by soil properties and topographic variables. The CCA also indicated that the abundance of regeneration tree species at all sites had positive and significant correlations with soil depth, while the occurrence of several other tree species (such as Koilodepas longifolium and Aglaia dasyclada) was positively correlated with a higher slope and rocky outcrop.Key Words: Undisturbed limestone and non-limestone forest, environmental factors, canonical correspondence analysis, vegetation-environment relationship