Investigation and landscape application evaluation of wild native groundcover plant resources in Pingtan

There are many groundcover resources with island characteristics in Pintan Island. In this study, the line transect method was applied to investigate wild plant species that are potential groundcover resources on Pingtan Island. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was utilized to evaluate the application values in creating the understory groundcover community of sheltered forest or ecological groundcover landscapes based on the investigated plant species after the establishment of the evaluation system for wild groundcover species. There were 227 species of wild groundcover plants in Pingtan. Herbaceous species accounted for 78.26% of the total species. In the first level factors of the evaluation model, the weighted values of adaptability and ornamental effects were the highest with values of 0.383 0 and 0.277 6, respectively. In the second-level factors, the weighted value of the saline-alkaline adaptability was the highest, and the wind-resistance, covering power, whole ornamental effect, and ecological benefits were also high (all above 0.08). By this evaluation system, 54 desirable groundcover species including Ipomoea pes-caprae, Limonium sinense, Oenothera drummondii, and Lysimachia mauritiana were screened out from the initial investigated species on Pingtan island. Furthermore, focusing on the four habitats of coastal sand, bedrock coast, saline wetland, and coastal forest, several suitable plant configuration modes of groundcover landscape are proposed．