Abstract:Soil nutrition is a key factor influencing species composition in a community, but it has clearly scale-dependent heterogeneity. In the present study, geostatistics methods and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to detect: (i) the variation range of soil spatial heterogeneity; (ii) the influence of topographic factors on the distribution of soil nutrition; and (iii) the relationships between soil chemical properties and species in the community. In all, 23 soil variables were measured, including total N and organic C, Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, NH4-N, Ni, NO3-N, Pb, pH, P, Sr, Ti, V, and Zn. Semi-variograms of these variables were calculated and mapped. All indices showed autocorrelations, with ranges between 29 and 200 m. When the sample method was larger than these distances, spatial autocorrelations were avoided. The distribution patterns of Ca, Cr, Ga, K, Mg, organic C, P, Pb, and pH, and total N were related to the microtopography and the distribution of these compounds was clumped in water catchments area. The CCA method was used to investigate the relationship between plant species and soil properties in this community. Fagus engleriana Seem., Lindera obtusiloba Bl. Mus., and Acer griseum (Franch.) Pax were correlated with organic C, available N, and P.(Author for correspondence.Tel: +86 10 6283 6284; E-mail: xie@ibcas.ac.cn)