Sri Lanka is a tropical island biodiversity hotspot with luxurious yet extremely vulnerable mangrove vegetation encompassing its coastline. The country has been a pioneer in mangrove conservation and rehabilitation since the unfortunate Indian Ocean tsunami disaster incident in 2004. Still, most mangrove restoration efforts have failed primarily because of a poor understanding of environment–vegetation interactions in local mangrove settings. The current study examined the vegetation structure, and soil chemical properties of Vidattaltivu mangrove forest, a complex coastal ecosystem on the northern coast of Sri Lanka characterized by dry climatic conditions. We employed several statistical approaches, namely simple correlation, generalized linear models (GLM), principal component analysis (PCA), and canonical correlation analysis (CCA), to understand soil–vegetationinteractions. Results indicated Vidattaltivu as a growing secondary mangrove forest, and soil salinity and nutrients showed to be the main drivers of the variability in mangrove vegetation structure and composition. The performance of most mangrove species (i.e., stand basal area and biomass) declined with increasing soil salinity, whereas Avicennia marina thrived at high salinities. Results of PCA and subsequent CCA suggested that mangrove soil and vegetation exist in a reciprocating multivariate system. Soil pH, salinity, organic matter, K, Mg, Ca, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Mn were identified as fundamental soil chemical properties that preserve and support mangrove vegetation. In return, tree density, tree height, stand basal area, tree biomass, and vegetation complexity sustained the soil as primary forest structural attributes.

斯里兰卡是一个热带岛屿生物多样性热点，其海岸线环绕着豪华而极为脆弱的红树林植被。自2004年不幸的印度洋海啸灾难以来，该国一直是红树林保护和恢复的先驱。但是，大多数红树林恢复工作都失败了，主要是因为对当地红树林环境与植被之间的相互作用了解不足。当前的研究检查了Vidattaltivu红树林的植被结构和土壤化学性质，该红树林是斯里兰卡北部沿海的一个复杂的沿海生态系统，以干燥的气候条件为特征。我们采用了几种统计方法，即简单相关，广义线性模型（GLM），主成分分析（PCA）和规范相关分析（CCA），了解土壤与植被的相互作用。结果表明，Vidattaltivu是一种正在生长的次生红树林，土壤盐分和养分是红树林植被结构和组成变化的主要驱动力。大多数红树林物种（即基础面积和生物量）的性能随着土壤盐分的增加而下降，而Avicennia滨海盐分高涨。PCA和随后的CCA的结果表明，红树林的土壤和植被存在于往复的多元系统中。土壤的pH值，盐度，有机质，钾，镁，钙，铜，镍，锌和锰被确定为基本的土壤化学性质，可以保护和支持红树林植被。作为回报，树木的密度，树木的高度，林分的基础面积，树木的生物量和植被的复杂性将土壤作为主要的森林结构特征。