IntroductionThe rapid advancement of tunnel engineering in mountainous nature reserves may pose disturbance risks to ecosystem stability and rare plant habitats.MethodsThis study investigated the Davidia involucrata tunnel of the Naqing Expressway by establishing four comparative plots: a wild Davidia involucrata community, a D. involucrata community above the tunnel, a cultivated D. involucrata community, and a community of other dominant tree species above the tunnel. We characterized communit