Research progress in the studies of regeneration niche and species coexistence

Regeneration niche is the potential niche required by new adult individuals when they successfully replace other adult individuals and the potential mechanism of species coexistence in communities.The efficient distribution of biotic and abiotic resources among community tree species could help species coexist in heterogeneous environments and regeneration niche differentiation exhibited various tradeoffs in smaller spatiotemporal scales.The competition among coexistent species and individuals is the basal mechanism of species coexistence in forest communities,while there is no conflict between competition and regeneration niche differentiation,and competition and their cooperation contribute to species coexistence.