Forest ecology: recent advances in plant ecology

358 Pages·2009·4.34 MB·English

by  Xianping Zhang

Forest Ecology
A.G. Van der Valk
Editor
Forest Ecology
Recent Advances in Plant Ecology
Previously published in Plant Ecology Volume 201, Issue 1, 2009
123
Editor
A.G. Van der Valk
Iowa State University
Department of Ecology,
Evolution and Organismal Biology
141 Bessey Hall
Ames IA50011-1020
USA
Cover illustration: Cover photo image: Courtesy of Photos.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927489
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-2795-5
ISBN: 978-90-481-2794-8 e-ISBN: 978-90-481-2795-5
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, B.V.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material
supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
springer.com
Contents
Quantitative classification and carbon density of the forest vegetation in Lüliang Mountains of
China
X. Zhang, M. Wang & X. Liang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–9
Effects of introduced ungulates on forest understory communities in northern Patagonia are modified
by timing and severity of stand mortality
M.A. Relva, C.L. Westerholm & T. Kitzberger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–22
Tree species richness and composition 15 years after strip clear-cutting in the Peruvian Amazon
X.J. Rondon, D.L. Gorchov & F. Cornejo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23–37
Changing relationships between tree growth and climate in Northwest China
Y. Zhang, M. Wilmking & X. Gou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39–50
Does leaf-level nutrient-use efficiency explain Nothofagus-dominance of some tropical rain forests
in New Caledonia?
A. Chatain, J. Read & T. Jaffré . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51–66
Dendroecological study of a subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) forest in the Qinling Mountains, China
H. Dang, M. Jiang, Y. Zhang, G. Dang & Q. Zhang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67–75
Aconceptual model of sprouting responses in relation to fire damage: an example with cork oak
(Quercus suberL.) trees in Southern Portugal
F. Moreira, F. Catry, I. Duarte, V. Acácio & J.S. Silva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77–85
Non-woody life-form contribution to vascular plant species richness in a tropical American forest
R. Linares-Palomino, V. Cardona, E.I. Hennig, I. Hensen, D. Hoffmann, J. Lendzion, D. Soto,
S.K. Herzog & M. Kessler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87–99
Relationships between spatial configuration of tropical forest patches and woody plant diversity in
northeastern Puerto Rico
I.T. Galanes & J.R. Thomlinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101–113
Vascular diversity patterns of forest ecosystem before and after a 43-year interval under changing
climate conditions in the Changbaishan Nature Reserve, northeastern China
W. Sang & F. Bai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115–130
Gap-scale disturbance processes in secondary hardwood stands on the Cumberland Plateau,
Tennessee, USA
J.L. Hart & H.D. Grissino-Mayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131–146
Plurality of tree species responses to drought perturbation in Bornean tropical rain forest
D.M. Newbery & M. Lingenfelder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147–167
Red spruce forest regeneration dynamics across a gradient from Acadian forest to old field in
Greenwich, Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada
N. Cavallin & L. Vasseur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169–180
Distance- and density-dependent seedling mortality caused by several diseases in eight tree species
co-occurring in a temperate forest
M. Yamazaki, S. Iwamoto & K. Seiwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181–196
Response of native Hawaiian woody species to lava-ignited wildfires in tropical forests and shrub-
lands
A. Ainsworth & J. Boone Kauffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197–209
Evaluating different harvest intensities over understory plant diversity and pine seedlings, in a Pinus
pinasterAit. natural stand of Spain
J. González-Alday, C. Martínez-Ruiz & F. Bravo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211–220
Land-use history affects understorey plant species distributions in a large temperate-forest complex,
Denmark
J.-C. Svenning, K.H. Baktoft & H. Balslev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221–234
Short-term responses of the understory to the removal of plant functional groups in the cold-temperate
deciduous forest
A. Lenière & G. Houle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235–245
Host trait preferences and distribution of vascular epiphytes in a warm-temperate forest
A. Hirata, T. Kamijo & S. Saito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247–254
Seed bank composition and above-ground vegetation in response to grazing in sub-Mediterranean
oak forests (NWGreece)
E. Chaideftou, C.A. Thanos, E. Bergmeier, A. Kallimanis & P. Dimopoulos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255–265
On the detection of dynamic responses in a drought-perturbed tropical rainforest in Borneo
M. Lingenfelder & D.M. Newbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267–290
Changes in tree and liana communities along a successional gradient in a tropical dry forest in
south-eastern Brazil
B.G. Madeira, M.M. Espírito-Santo, S. D’Ângelo Neto, Y.R.F. Nunes, G. Arturo Sánchez Azofeifa,
G. Wilson Fernandes & M. Quesada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291–304
Woody plant composition of forest layers: the importance of environmental conditions and spatial
configuration
M. Gonzalez, M. Deconchat & G. Balent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305–318
The importance of clonal growth to the recovery of Gaultheria procumbens L. (Ericaceae) after
forest disturbance
F.M. Moola & L. Vasseur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319–337
Species richness and resilience of forest communities: combined effects of short-term disturbance
and long-term pollution
M.R. Trubina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339–350
Hurricane disturbance in a temperate deciduous forest: patch dynamics, tree mortality, and coarse
woody detritus
R.T. Busing, R.D. White, M.E. Harmon & P.S. White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351–363
Quantitative classification and carbon density of the forest
vegetation in Lu¨liang Mountains of China
Xianping Zhang Æ Mengben Wang Æ
Xiaoming Liang
OriginallypublishedinthejournalPlantEcology,Volume201,No.1,1–9.
DOI:10.1007/s11258-008-9507-x(cid:1)SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2008
Abstract Forestsplayamajorroleinglobalcarbon the 9 forest formations was 32.09 Mg ha-1 in 2000
(C) cycle, and the carbon density (CD) could reflect and33.86 Mg ha-1in2005.Form.Piceameyerihad
its ecological function of C sequestration. Study on thehighestCD(56.48 Mg ha-1),andForm.Quercus
theCDofdifferentforesttypesonacommunityscale liaotungensis ? Acer mono had the lowest CD
is crucial to characterize in depth the capacity of (16.14 Mg ha-1). Pre-mature forests and mature
forest C sequestration. In this study, based on the forestswere very important stages inC sequestration
forest inventory data of 168 field plots in the study among four age classes in these formations. Forest
area (E 111(cid:2)300–113(cid:2)500, N 37(cid:2)300–39(cid:2)400), the densities, average age of forest stand, and elevation
forest vegetation was classified by using quantitative hadpositiverelationshipswithforestCD,whileslope
method (TWINSPAN); the living biomass of trees location had negative correlation with forest CD.
was estimated using the volume-derived method; the
CD of different forest types was estimated from the Keywords TWINSPAN (cid:1) Carbon density (cid:1)
biomassoftheirtreespecies;andtheeffectsofbiotic Volume-derived method (cid:1) Forest vegetation (cid:1)
and abiotic factors on CD were studied using a China
multiple linear regression analysis. The results show
that the forest vegetation in this region could be
classifiedinto9forestformations.TheaverageCDof
Introduction
Forests play a major role in global carbon (C) cycle
X.Zhang(cid:1)M.Wang(&) (Dixon et al. 1994; Wang 1999) because they store
InstituteofLoessPlateau,ShanxiUniversity,
80% of the global aboveground C of the vegetation
580WuchengRoad,Taiyuan030006,
and about 40% of the soil C and interact with
People’sRepublicofChina
e-mail:[email protected] atmospheric processes through the absorption and
respiration of CO (Brown et al. 1999; Houghton
2
X.Zhang
et al. 2001a, b; Goodale and Apps 2002). Enhancing
ShanxiForestryVocationalTechnologicalCollege,
C sequestration by increasing forestland area has
Taiyuan030009,People’sRepublicofChina
been suggested as an effective measure to mitigate
X.Liang elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO ) concen-
2
GuandiMountainState-OwnedForestManagement
trationandhencecontributetowardthepreventionof
BureauofShanxiProvince,Jiaocheng,Lishi032104,
People’sRepublicofChina global warming (Watson 2000). Recent researches
A.G.VanderValk(ed.),ForestEcology.DOI:10.1007/978-90-481-2795-5_1 1
2 A.G.VanderValk(ed.)
focus mainly on carbon storage of forest ecosystem Methods
on landscape or regional scale (Fang et al. 2001;
Hiura 2005; Zhao and Zhou 2006). Many studies Study region
have shown that the C sequestration abilities of
different forests change considerably, which can be The study was conducted in the middle-north of
well explained by their CD values (Wei et al. 2007; Lu¨liang Mountains (E 111(cid:2)300–113(cid:2)500, N 37(cid:2)300
HuandLiu2006).MeanwhiletheCstorageofforests –39(cid:2)400) with its peak (Xiaowen Mountain) 2831 m
maychangesubstantiallywithforestecosystemsona abovesealevel(asl).Thetemperateterrestrialclimate
community scale. This type of moderate-scale ischaracterizedbyawarmsummer,acoldwinter,and
research into the C storage of forests, however, has a short growing season (90–130 days) with a mean
been rarely conducted. annual precipitation of 330–650 mm and a mean
Many methods have been used to estimate the annual temperature of 8.5(cid:2)C (min. monthly mean of
biomass of forest vegetation (Houghton et al. 2001a, -7.6(cid:2)CinJanuaryandmax.monthlymeanof22.5(cid:2)C
b). Among them, the volume-derived method has in July). The soils from mountain top to foot are
been commonly used (Brown and Lugo 1984; Fang mountain meadow soil, mountain brown soil, moun-
et al. 1996; Fang and Wang 2001). Forest volume tain alfisol cinnamon soil, and mountain cinnamon
production reflects the effects of the influencing soil (The Editing Committeeof Shanxi Forest1984).
factors, such as the forest type, age, density, soil There are two national natural reserves in this
condition, and location. The forest CD estimated region with Luya Mountain National Nature Reserve
from forest biomass will also indicate these effects. in the north and Pangquangou National Nature
Zhou et al. (2002) and Zhao and Zhou (2005) Reserve in the south, in which Crossoptlon mant-
improved the volume-derived method by hyperbolic churicum (an endangered bird species), Larix
function, but the method has not been used to principis-rupprechtii forest, and Picea spp. (P. mey-
estimate forest CD on the moderate scale. eri and P. wilsonii) forest are the key protective
The Lu¨liang Mountains is located in the eastern targets.
part of the Loess Plateau in China, where soil and Based on the system of national vegetation
water losses are serious. To improve ecological regionalization, this area was classified into the
environmentthere, theChinesegovernment hasbeen warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest zone.
increasing forestland by carrying out ‘‘The Three- With the elevation rising, vegetation zone are,
North Forest Shelterbelt Program,’’ ‘‘The Natural respectively, deciduous broad-leaved forest, needle-
Forest Protection Project,’’ and ‘‘The Conversion of broad-leavedmixedforest,cold-temperateconiferous
Cropland to Forest Program’’ since 1970s. Previous forest, and subalpine scrub-meadow.
studies on the forest vegetation in this region focus
mainly on the qualitative description of its distribu- Data collection
tionpattern(TheEditingCommitteeofShanxiForest
1984). The objectives of this study were (1) to The forest inventory data from a total of 168 field
classify the forest vegetation on Lu¨liang Mountains plotsin2000and2005wereusedinthisstudy.These
usingquantitativeclassificationmethod(TWINSPAN) permanent plots (each with an area of 0.0667 ha)
(Zhang et al. 2003; Zhang 2004); (2) to estimate the were established systematically based on the grid of
CD of different forest types through biomass based 4 km 9 4 km across the forestland of 2698.85 km2
on the modified volume-derived method (Zhou et al. in 1980s under the project of the forest survey of the
2002) and to clarify the distribution pattern of forest Ministry of Forestry of P. R. China (1982), in which
CDinthisregion;and(3)toquantifythecontribution the data, such as tree species, diameter at breath
ofbioticandabioticfactors(includingaverageforest height of 1.3 m (DBH), the average height of the
age, density, soil thickness, elevation, aspect, and forest stand, and the average age of the forest stand
slope) to forest CD based on a multiple linear had been recorded along with the data of location,
regression analysis. The results would provide basic elevation, aspect, slope degree, slope location, and
data for further study of forest C storage pattern in soil depth. For trees with C5 cm DBH, the values of
this region. their DBH were included in the inventory.
ForestEcology 3
TWINSPAN classification Table1 Parameters of biomass calculation for dominant
speciesinthisstudy
A total of 26 tree species had been recorded in the
Species Parametersinequation
168 plots. The importance values (IV) for every tree
a b n R2
species in each plot were calculated using the
following formula: Larixprincipis-rupprechtii 0.94 0.0026 34 0.94
Pinustabulaeformis 0.32 0.0085 32 0.86
IV¼ ðRelative densityþRelative dominance
Piceameyeri 0.56 0.0035 26 0.85
þRelative frequencyÞ=300
Platycladusorientalis 1.125 0.0002 21 0.97
where relative density is the ratio of the individual Pinusarmandii 0.542 0.0077 17 0.73
number for a tree species over the total number for Populusdavidiana 0.587 0.0071 21 0.92
all tree species in a plot, relative dominance is the Betulaplatyphylla 0.975 0.001 14 0.91
ratio of the sum of the basal area for a tree species Quercusliaotungensis 0.824 0.0007 48 0.92
over the total basal area of all tree species in a plot,
and the relative frequency is the percentage of the
plot number containing a tree species over the total CD¼B(cid:2)C ð2Þ
c
plot number (168) in this inventory. Based on the
whereBisthetotallivingbiomassoftreespeciesina
matrix of IVs of 26 9 168 (species 9 plots), the
plot; C is the average carbon content of dry matter,
forest vegetation can be classified into different C
which is assumed to be 0.5, though it varies slightly
formations using the two-way indicator-species
for different vegetation (Johnson and Sharpe 1983;
analysis (TWINSPAN) (Hill 1979).
Zhao and Zhou 2006).
Effects of influencing factors
Estimation of biomass and CD
The qualitative data of the aspect and slope location
Thevolumeproductionofanindividualtreecouldbe
were first transformed into quantitative data to
obtained in the volume table (Science and Technol-
quantify their effects on forest CD. According to
ogy Department of Shanxi Forestry Bureau 1986)
the regulations of the forest resources inventory by
according to its DBH. The volume of a species (V)
the Ministry of Forestry (1982), the aspect data were
was the sum ofits individual tree’s volume ina plot.
transformedtoeightclassesstartingfromnorth(from
The total living biomass (B) (Mg ha-1) of a species 338(cid:2)to360(cid:2)plusfrom0(cid:2)to22(cid:2)),turningclockwise,
in a plot was calculated as:
and taking every 45(cid:2) as a class: 1 (338(cid:2)–22(cid:2), north
V aspect), 2 (23(cid:2)–67(cid:2), northeast aspect), 3 (68(cid:2)–112(cid:2),
B¼ ð1Þ
aþbV east aspect), 4 (113(cid:2)–157(cid:2), southeast aspect), 5
where V represents the total volume (m3 ha-1) of a (158(cid:2)–202(cid:2), south aspect), 6(203(cid:2)–247(cid:2),southwest),
speciesinaplot,a(0.32–1.125)andb(0.0002–0.001) 7 (248(cid:2)–292(cid:2), west aspect), and 8 (293(cid:2)–337(cid:2),
are constants (Zhou et al. 2002). The constants for northwest aspect). The slope locations in the moun-
most ofthe tree species inthis study were developed tains were transformed to 6 grades: 1 (the ridge), 2
by Zhao and Zhou in 2006 (Table 1). (the upper part), 3 (the middle part), 4 (the lower
In regard to companion tree species in this study, part), 5 (the valley), and 6 (the flat).
theirbiomassestimationwasbasedontheparameters A multiple linear regression model was used to
of above known species according to their morpho- analyze the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on
logical similarity, i.e., Pinus bungeana is referred to forest CD, assuming a significant effect if the
theparametersofPinusarmandii;Ulmuspumillaand probability level (P) is\0.05:
TiliachinensistothoseofQuercusliaotungensis;and Y^¼aþb1X1þb2X2þb3X3þ...þbkXkh ð3Þ
Acer mono and the rest of broad-leaved species to
those of Populus davidiana. whereaisaconstant,b ,b ,b ,andb areregression
1 2 3 k
Forest CD (Mg ha-1) was calculated as: coefficients. Y^represents CD and X , X , X , X , X ,
1 2 3 4 5
4 A.G.VanderValk(ed.)
X6, and X7 represent forest density (X1), average age 168 plots
(X ), elevation (X ), slope location (X ), aspect (X ),
2 3 4 5
slope degree (X ), and soil depth (X ) in each plot,
6 7
respectively. Here forest density is the individual
number of all tree species per area in a plot, and
2nd level
forest age isthe average age ofdominanttrees inthe
3rd level
plot.
4th level
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(12) (20) (17) (24) (35)(26) (11) (5) (18)
Forest formations from TWINSPAN
Fig.1 DendrogramderivedfromTWINSPANanalysis.Note:
1.Form.Larixprincipis-rupprechtii;2.Form.Piceameyeri;3.
According to the 4th level results of TWINSPAN Form.Betulaplatyphylla;4.Form.Populusdavidiana;5.Form.
classification, the 168 plots were classified into 9 Pinustabulaeformis;6.Form.Pinustabulaeformis?Quercus
formations (Table 2), which were named according liaotungensis;7.Form.Quercusliaotungensis;8.Form.Pinus
bungeana?Platycladus orientalis, and 9. Form. Quercus
to Chinese Vegetation Classification system (Wu
liaotungensis?Acer mono. The number of plots for each
1980). The dendrogram derived from TWINSPAN formationisshownbetweenthebrackets
analysis is shown in Fig. 1. The basic characteristics
of species composition, structure along with its
common companion species were Picea meyeri
environment for each formation are described as
and P. wilsonii in the tree layer.
follows:
2. Form. Picea meyeri (Form. 2): P. meyeri forest
1. Form. Larix principis-rupprechtii (Form. 1 for belongedtocold-temperateevergreenconiferous
short, the same thereafter): L. principis- forest. Its ecological amplitude was relatively
rupprechtii was the dominant tree species of narrow with a range of vertical distribution from
the cold-temperate coniferous forest in north 1860 mto2520 m.BetulaplatyphyllaandPicea
China. It grew relatively faster with fine timber. wilsonii appeared commonly in this forest.
Therefore it was a very important silvicultural 3. Form.Betulaplatyphylla(Form.3):B. platyphy-
tree species at middle-high mountains in this lla was one of main tree species in this region
region. This type of forest distributed vertically and occupied the land at moderate elevation
from 1610 m to 2445 m above sea level, and (1700–2200 m). In the tree layer, Populus
Table2 Thestructurecharacteristicsof9forestformationsandtheirenvironmentalfactors
Form Density(No./ha) Age(Year) Coverage(%) Slopelocation Elevation(m) Slope((cid:2)) Aspect Soildepth(cm)
1 849.3±121.8 40.0±5.4 54±8.7 2.7±0.1 1610–2445 19.1±1.1 4.1±.6 56.4±5.1
2 869.6±179.1 55.4±4.8 62±8.3 2.3±0.2 1860–2520 19.6±2.2 4.7±0.6 50.6±5.9
3 774.3±57.8 45.5±5.3 45±4.1 2.6±0.2 1700–2200 21.6±1.9 4.2±0.8 48.7±3.3
4 1071.9±124.4 31.6±2.6 41±6.3 3.5±0.2 1350–1997 23.0±1.6 4.1±0.6 49.2±6.2
5 770.9±139.7 54.7±2.6 49±5.7 2.9±0.2 1360–2010 23.9±2.2 2.9±0.5 41.0±4.1
6 756.2±87.7 60.9±3.7 46±4.2 2.6±0.2 1235–1820 29.4±2.3 3.7±0.4 34.2±4.1
7 731.3±154.7 56.8±6.2 46±7.4 3.0±0.3 1452–2010 25.9±2.1 3.4±0.8 53.2±3.7
8 1589.2±616.2 53.8±3.8 41±2.5 2.6±0.5 1250–1270 26.6±3.5 3.6±0.7 34.0±7.1
9 910.3±136.8 51.3±4.6 51±7.3 3.4±0.2 1350–1660 23.2±2.5 4.8±0.5 39.4±4.4
Note:1.Form.Larixprincipis-rupprechtii;2.Form.Piceameyeri;3.Form.BetulaPlatyphylla;4.Form.Populusdavidiana;5.Form.
Pinus tabulaeformis; 6. Form. Pinus tabulaeformis?Quercus liaotungensis; 7. Form. Quercus liaotungensis; 8. Form. Pinus
bungeana?Platycladusorientalis;9.Form.Quercusliaotungensis?Acermono