Researchers studied plant communities on abandoned farmlands in Guancen Mountain, Shanxi. They found that as time passed, species richness and diversity increased while dominance and evenness decreased. The composition, structure, and life types of plant communities changed rapidly with environmental alterations. Forest communities with Larix principis-rupprechtii became dominant, showing that richer species composition led to higher diversity. Species richness and diversity increased with elevation and time on abandoned farmlands.