This study systematically evaluated the diversity patterns and key drivers of Exbucklandia populnea-dominated forest communities across major distribution regions such as Yunnan， Guangxi， and Guizhou， China. Specifically， we assessed the effects of stand origin（natural vs. plantation）， stand age， understory tending intensity， and annual precipitation on species composition， as well as on alpha（α） and beta（β） diversity. α-diversity was evaluated using Simpson’s and Shannon-Wiener indices， while β-diversity patterns were analyzed through non-metric multidimensional scaling（NMDS）， UPGMA clustering， and indicator species analysis. Redundancy analysis（RDA） with variation partitioning was used to quantify the proportion of explained variation of each factor to species richness and diversity across vegetation strata. The results showed that untended old-growth natural stands exhibited significantly higher richness and diversity than plantations（P<0.05）. NMDS and UPGMA clearly distinguished natural from plantation stands（P<0.001）， with 14， 4， and 1 indicator species identified in the three natural stands， respectively， while no indicator species were found in plantations. RDA further revealed strong positive effects of natural origin and stand age， and negative effects of understory tending intensity and precipitation， on species richness and diversity. Overall， geographic location， stand origin， stand age， and management practices jointly shaped the α- and β-diversity patterns of E. populnea communities， providing empirical support for refined forest management and biodiversity conservation.
%U https://bbr.nefu.edu.cn/EN/10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2026.01.015