The characteristics and regeneration of the Choerospondias axillaries broad-leaved community in the hilly region of central Hunan Province, China

Broad-leaved forest community dominated by Choerospondias axillaries is one of the main forest community types in the hilly area of central Hunan province, which plays a very important role in forest succession processes in subtropical region. In this study, a large permanent plot with an area of 1 hectares was established in the typical forest community of C. axillaries at the Dashanchong forest farm, Changsha county in the hilly region. The results showed: (1) in the arborous layer, there were 59 species in total which were more than 1 cm in diameter at breast height (DBH) belonging to 25 families and 42 genera in the community; (2) the dominant species is C. axillaries with the largest important value (IV) of 23.57 in the community. (3) The IV was 10.46 for Symplocos setchuensis, 7.98 for Eurya muricata, 5.39 for Vernicia montana, and 4.17 for Litsea coreana, respectively. (5) Forest seedlings were mainly dominated by evergreen broad-leaved tree species which regenerated well, with exception of C. axillaries saplings. (6) There were a total of 37 species in shrub and herb layer.