Similarity and difference in vegetation structure of three desert shrub communities under the same temperate climate but with different microhabitats

Botanical Studies

Table 6 Pearson correlation coefficients of soil parameters with first two NMDS ordination axes in three seasons

Variable	Spring		Summer		Autumn
	Axis 1	Axis 2	Axis 1	Axis 2	Axis 1	Axis 2
SOM	0.467**	0.115	0.552**	0.145	0.549**	0.287*
TN	0.514**	0.169	0.591**	0.153	0.579**	0.217
TP	-0.008	-0.043	0.044	0.010	-0.068	0.003
TK	0.280**	0.227*	0.349**	0.279*	0.416**	-0.022
AN	0.324**	0.146	0.448**	0.248*	0.406**	0.095
pH	-0.331**	-0.225*	-0.529**	-0.250*	-0.442**	-0.107
EC	0.503**	0.222*	0.553**	0.311**	0.557**	0.037
IBL	0.550**	0.070	0.688**	0.077	0.692**	0.109
Variation explained	42.8%	29.7%	53.8%	22.8%	55.1%	16.2%

*indicates significant correlation (P < 0.05); **indicates greatly significant correlation (P < 0.01); n = 77.