Dataset Information

A comparison of species composition and community assemblage of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China.

ABSTRACT: The mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains in China was once dominated by birch and pine-oak belts but are now mainly covered by secondary growth following large-scale deforestation. Assessing the recovery and sustainability of these forests is essential for their management and restoration. We investigated and compared the tree species composition and community assemblages of secondary forests of the birch and pine-oak belts in the Huoditang forest region of the Qinling Mountains after identical natural recoveries. Both types of belts had rich species compositions and similar floristic components but clearly different community structures. Tree diversity was significantly higher for the birch than the pine-oak belt. Niche and neutral processes simultaneously influenced the species distribution and community dynamics of the belts, and these forests were able to maintain stable development during natural recoveries. The conservation and management of these forests should receive more attention to protect biodiversity and the forest resources in the Qinling Mountains.

SUBMITTER: Chai Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4846807 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A comparison of species composition and community assemblage of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China.

Chai Zongzheng Z Wang Dexiang D

PeerJ 20160421

The mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains in China was once dominated by birch and pine-oak belts but are now mainly covered by secondary growth following large-scale deforestation. Assessing the recovery and sustainability of these forests is essential for their management and restoration. We investigated and compared the tree species composition and community assemblages of secondary forests of the birch and pine-oak belts in the Huoditang forest region of the Qinling Mountains after iden ...[more]

PMID: 27123377

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Project description:BackgroundThe Chinese Natural Forest Protection program has been conducted nationwide and has achieved resounding success. However, timber importation has increased; therefore, producing more domestic timber is critical to meet the demand for raw materials. Fertilization is one of the most effective silviculture practices used to improve tree and stand growth. However, determining the appropriate type and amount of elements is necessary for effective fertilization of big timber in different forest types and environmental conditions. Stoichiometric theory provides the criteria to assess nutrient limitation in plants and offers important insight into fertilizer requirements of forested ecosystems.MethodsNitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in plants' leaves, mineral soil, and litter were investigated in a mixed pine-oak stand.ResultsThe big timber rate for Pinus tabuliformis, Pinus armandii and Quercus aliena var. acutesserata is 57.71%, 22.79% and 2.78% of current existing individuals respectively. Foliar N and P concentrations were 9.08 and 0.88 mg g-1, respectively. The N:P in the plants was 10.30. N concentration and N:P in mineral soil decreased from 0-30 cm soil depth. For litter, N and P concentrations were 16.89 and 1.51 mg g-1, respectively, and N:P was 11.51. Concentrations of N and P in mineral soil and litter did not significantly affect plants'leaf concentrations. Similar result was also obtained between litter and mineral soil concentrations. Nitrogen storage in mineral soil was significantly correlated with foliar N:P in the plants.DiscussionFoliar N:P of dominant tree species and the plants, and foliar N concentration in Pinus tabuliformis and P. armandii, and foliar P concentration of P. armandii in the mixed pine-oak stand was lower than that in Chinese and other terrestrial plants. Foliar nutrients in the plants were not affected by soil nutrients. According to the criteria of nutrient limitation for plants, growth of dominant tree species was N limited; therefore, 1.49 t ha-1 pure N should be added to forest land to as fertilizer.

Project description:Disturbance legacies structure communities and ecological memory, but due to increasing changes in disturbance regimes, it is becoming more difficult to characterize disturbance legacies or determine how long they persist. We sought to quantify the characteristics and persistence of material legacies (e.g., biotic residuals of disturbance) that arise from variation in fire severity in an eastern ponderosa pine forest in North America. We compared forest stand structure and understory woody plant and bird community composition and species richness across unburned, low-, moderate-, and high-severity burn patches in a 27-year-old mixed-severity wildfire that had received minimal post-fire management. We identified distinct tree densities (high: 14.3 ± 7.4 trees per ha, moderate: 22.3 ± 12.6, low: 135.3 ± 57.1, unburned: 907.9 ± 246.2) and coarse woody debris cover (high: 8.5 ± 1.6% cover per 30 m transect, moderate: 4.3 ± 0.7, low: 2.3 ± 0.6, unburned: 1.0 ± 0.4) among burn severities. Understory woody plant communities differed between high-severity patches, moderate- and low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p < 0.05). Bird communities differed between high- and moderate-severity patches, low-severity patches, and unburned patches (all p < 0.05). Bird species richness varied across burn severities: low-severity patches had the highest (5.29 ± 1.44) and high-severity patches had the lowest (2.87 ± 0.72). Understory woody plant richness was highest in unburned (5.93 ± 1.10) and high-severity (5.07 ± 1.17) patches, and it was lower in moderate- (3.43 ± 1.17) and low-severity (3.43 ± 1.06) patches. We show material fire legacies persisted decades after the mixed-severity wildfire in eastern ponderosa forest, fostering distinct structures, communities, and species in burned versus unburned patches and across fire severities. At a patch scale, eastern and western ponderosa system responses to mixed-severity fires were consistent.

Project description:Qinling-Daba Mountains (QDM), which are located in central China, are considered as a significant climatic boundary delimiting north and south. However, the influence of complex topographic and climatic features makes it challenging to identify the exact location of the boundary, and different scholars delimit the boundary with significant differences. In addition, there is a gradual transition between climate zones, and no real dividing line exists. To explore the climate regionalization of the QDM, we focused on the identification of the transition zone rather than the exact location of the boundary between subtropical and temperate zones. Thus, we proposed a new workflow for climate regionalization based on the Geodetector-SVM model (a combination of Geodetector and support vector machines). First, we selected the spatial distribution data of six vegetation types (including typical subtropical and temperate vegetation) to represent the spatial distribution of climatic zones. Environmental factors (such as topography, temperature, precipitation, and soil) were used as explanatory variables for the spatial distribution of vegetation. Second, using the Geodetector-SVM model, the distribution characteristics and suitable environment of typical vegetation in different climatic zones are comprehensively explored. By analyzing the multiple boundaries between subtropical and temperate vegetation, the location of the transition zone of the QDM was identified. The results revealed the following: (1) The new workflow for climate regionalization based on the Geodetector-SVM model is powerful for the identification of the transition zone. The q-statistics are generally greater than 0.35, indicating that the transition zone between subtropical and temperate zones can highly reflect the character of the QDM; (2) From west to east, the transition zone mainly passes through the cities of Heishui County, Kang County, Liuba County, and Yichuan County and is approximately 30 km wide.

Dataset Information

A comparison of species composition and community assemblage of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China.

Publications

A comparison of species composition and community assemblage of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China.

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