The Araliaceae family consists of numerous species of medical plants of significant value as non-wood forest products. To conserve and culture these plants in natural forest stands is an important undertaking which should be implemented according to the relationship between forest structure and understory population. In this study, thirty-five plots were established in natural Aralia elata stands. Taller individual and denser populations were found in the northern and in the eastern regions, respectively. Both population densities and individual leaf weight increased along longitude. In contrast, their relationship with elevation and DBH were negative. Along with the altitude gradient, both height and root-collar diameter increased but population density declined. Root-collar diameter and population density decreased with latitude and DBH, respectively. Overall, dominant trees unlikely enforced strong disturbance to the development of understory A. elata populations unless concerning some specific topographic factors.

alia科由许多具有非木材林产品价值的药用植物组成。在天然林中保护和培育这些植物是一项重要的工作，应根据森林结构与林下种群之间的关系来实施。在这项研究中，在天然Aralia elata中建立了35个样地站立。在北部和东部地区分别发现了较高的个体和较密集的种群。人口密度和单叶重量均沿经度增加。相反，它们与海拔和DBH的关系为负。随着海拔梯度的增加，高度和根领直径均增加，但种群密度下降。根领直径和种群密度分别随纬度和DBH降低。总体而言，除非涉及某些特定的地形因素，否则优势树不太可能对下层拟南芥种群的生长造成强烈干扰。