The species richness, evenness and species diversity of plant communities in Dinghushan Nature Reserve were investigated. The species richness index, species diversity index and the evenness index were compared for different vegetation types. The indices increased with the plant community succession, but the indices of mature forest were not the highest. Generally, the species richness order was that the shrub layer>herb layer>tree layer, the diversity index order is that the shrub layer>tree layer>herb lay...