An Index for Measuring Functional Diversity in Plant Communities Based on Neural Network Theory

Table 1

Plant functional traits and their values in plant communities.

Functional trait type	Functional traits and values
Photosynthesis pathway	1 Crassulacean pathway, 2 C3 pathway, 3 between C3 and C4 pathway, and 4 C4 pathway
Nitrogen fixing	0 No nitrogen fixing, 1 Elaeagnaceae nitrogen fixing, and 2 Leguminosae nitrogen fixing
Seed dispersal	1 Automatic spreading, 2 gravity spreading, 3 wind spreading, and 4 animals spreading
Pollination method	1 Anemophilous, 2 entomophilous
Life form	1 Tree, 2 shrubs, 3 woody vine, 4 perennial herb, 5 biennial herb, and 6 annual herb
Leaf form	1 Coniferous, 2 Broad leaf
Plant height	Measured value in cm
Flowering date	Beginning month of flowering
Flowering period	Flowering months