Abstract:Pinus kwangtungensis, is a rare and endangered pine species native to China. Interspecific relationships in a natural forest of Pinus kwangtungensis were studied based on inventory data from a 7200 m2-plot area in Nanling National Nature Reserve. This study was aimed to quantitatively analyze the relationships of Pinus kwangtungensis to other species in the forest community and to their habitat. The continuous transect sampling method was employed to investigate interspecific relationships in the forest community dominated by Pinus kwangtungensis. A horizontal transect (10 m×120 m) was placed at an 100 m altitudinal interval along the elevation from 1100 m to 1600 m a.s.l., which represents the altitudinal range of Pinus kwangtungensis in Nanling National Nature Reserve. The contiguous grid quadrat sampling method was used for the inventory in each transect, which consisted of 12 quadrats (10 m×10 m). All of the vascular plants were tallied by quadrat. Both Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Cluster Analysis were used to detect the interspecific relationships. The results show (1) the frequency of dominance of Pinus kwangtungensis in Nanling was ranked an A class by Raunkiaer’s law of frequency. Pinus kwangtungensis dominated in the canopy more than in the subcanopy and understory. (2) Both Spearman rank correlation (SRC) coefficients and Pearson correlation coefficients indicated that the number of positive covariation couplets was significantly higher than those negative covariation couplets in the forest community, although SRC appeared to be more sensitive than Pearson correlation analysis. Except the negative covariation with Litsea elongate, Pinus kwangtungensis exhibited no significant correlations with other dominant species. (3) The altitude, slope, slope aspect, slope shape, thickness of humus layer and litterfall all had significant correlations with the three axes in CCA plot, and the environmental factors in the first two axes defined the ecological conditions of the community. The categorization of 105 plant species found in the canopy was made according to the characteristics of the species along the first axis. Altitude was the most effective factor influencing the distribution of Pinus kwangtungensis. (4) The difference in spatial distribution among 105 tree species was influenced by the microenvironment. The results of Canonical Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis indicated that environmental factors influenced the distribution and ecological characteristic of the plant species in the forest community dominated by Pinus kwangtungensis.