臺灣低海拔地區開發較早,原始植群遭受較嚴重破壞,台中大坑地區是少數臺灣西部低海拔保有較自然森林的地區。研究區總面積約4,020ha,海拔高介於137-859m之間,主要為低海拔之丘陵地區,屬於熱帶濕潤氣候。研究區範圍內共紀錄125科331屬501種維管束植物,包括61種臺灣特有種,32種稀有植物,歸化種比例超過10%。共計調查97個樣區(25m×10m),經群團分析結果(依優勢種命名),區分為石櫟-柏拉木型、桂竹-麻竹型、小西氏石櫟-山紅柿型、臺灣櫸-月橘型、楓香-燈稱花型、大葉桃花心木-柑橘型、山黃麻-長梗紫苧麻型、血桐-構樹型與相思樹–龍眼型等9個森林植群型及五節芒型之草本植群型;並針對各植群型之主要組成樹種進行族群結構之分析。
Dakeng area preserves more natural forest in low-land of Taiwan, although, original vegetation of low-altitude areas are almost destroyed. The study area is about 4,020 ha at 139-859 m elevation. In order to investigate the compositions of plants and vegetations, 97 sampling plots (25 m × 10 m) had been set up. Total of 501 species belonging to 331 genera and 125 families were recorded, with 61 endemic species, 32 rare species and more than 10% of naturalized plants. According the result of cluster analysis, the plant communities could be classified into 10 vegetation types with the name of their dominate species respectively as following: Pasania glabra-Blastus cochinchinensis type; Phyllostachys makinoi-Dendrocalamus latiflorus type; Pasania konishii-Diospyros morrisiana type; Zelkova serrata-Murraya paniculata type; Liquidambar formosana-Ilex asprell type; Swietenia macrophylla-Citrus ponki type; Trema orientalis-Oreocnide pedunculata type; Macaranga tanarius-Broussonetia papyrifera type; Acacia confusa-Euphoria longana type and Miscanthus floridulus type. Population structure analysis of dominate tree for each vegetation type was also carried out.