Recruitment pattern of tree populations along an altitudinal gradient: Larix chinensis Beissn in Qinling Mountains [China]

• Autorzy: Duan R -Y , Wang X.-A. , Tu Y.-B. , Huang M.-Y. , Wang C. , Zhu Z.-H. , Guo H.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Larix chinensis Beissn is an endangered plant found only in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, northwestern China. It is densely distributed in the alpine and subalpine belt on their highest peak Taibai Mountain. Age structure studies along a montane altitudinal gradient would be helpful in understanding the limiting factors on the regeneration of natural forests. The forest was divided into three transects, i.e., lower limit (2900–3000 m), mid-altitude (3100–3200 m) and upper limit (3300–3400 m). The age structures differed across altitude classes. The age structure in the low altitude transect was closed to bell-shaped and characterized by the dominance of adult trees. A reverse-J shape age structure was found in the mid-altitude transect. Multi-modal age distribution was found in the high altitude transect, and was caused by lack of young seedlings and saplings. This suggests that different limiting factors play important roles in shaping the age structure and forest regeneration at different altitudes. In the low altitude, light availability was probably the most important limiting factor. In the mid-altitudinal transect, density dependent intraspecific competition between trees likely controlled regeneration of L. chinensis. We suggest that limiting climatic factors, e.g. temperature, play an important role in determining the age structure of L. chinensis populations in highaltitude areas.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Larix chinensis; endangered plant; Qinling Mountains; China; alpine belt; subalpine belt; age structure; tree; population; altitudinal transect; light availability; limiting factor

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Ecology
• Rocznik: 2009
• Tom: 57
• Numer: 3
• Opis fizyczny: p.451-459,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Duan R -Y

• Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, PR China

autor

Wang X.-A.

autor

Tu Y.-B.

autor

Huang M.-Y.

autor

Wang C.

autor

Zhu Z.-H.

autor

Guo H.

Bibliografia

• Agren J., Zackrisson O. 1990 – Age and size structure of Pinus sylvestris populations on mires in central and northern Sweden – J. Ecol. 78: 1049–1062.
• Arseneault D., Payette S. 1997 – Reconstruction of millennial forest dynamics from tree remains in a subarctic tree line peatland – Ecology, 78: 1873–1883.
• Block J., Treter U. 2001 – The limiting factors at the upper and lower forest limits in the mountain-woodland steppe of Northwest Mongolia Joachim Block and Uwe Treter (In: Kaennel Dobbertin, Ed. O.U. Braker) – Proceedings of the International Conference on Tree Rings and People, Davos, pp. 22–26.
• Brubaker L.B. 1986 – Responses of tree populations to climatic change –Vegetatio, 67: 119–130.
• Canham C.D. 1988 – An index for understory light levels in and around canopy gaps – Ecology, 69: 1634–1638.
• Covington W.W., Fulé P.Z., Moore M.M., Hart S.C., Kolb T.E., Mast J.N., Sackett S.S., Wagner M.R. 1997 – Restoration of ecosystem health in southwestern ponderosa pine forests – J. Forest. 95: 23–29.
• Cui H.T., Dai J.H., Tang Z.Y., Huang M.Y., Cao Y.L. 1999 – Stability of alpine timberline ecotone on Taibai Mountain, China – J. Environ. Sci. 11: 207–210.
• Dai J.H., Shao X.M., Cui H.T., Ge Q.S., Liu H.Y., Tang Z.Y. 2003 – Reconstruction of past eco climate by tree ring width index of Larix chinensis on Mt. Taibai – Quaternary Sciences, 23: 428–435. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Duan R.Y., Wang X.A. 2004 – Study on neighborhood zone and neighborhood competition intensity in larix chinensis population – Acta Bot. Boreal. Occident. Sin. 24: 2335–2340. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Duan R.Y., Wang X.A. 2005 – Intraspecific and interspecific competiotion in Larix chinensis –Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 29: 242–250. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Foly J.A., Kutzbach J.E., Coe M.T., Levis S. 1994 – Feedbacks between climate and boreal forests during the Holocene epoch – Nature, 371: 52–54.
• Franklin J.F., Moir W.H., Douglas G.W., Wiberg C. 1971 – Invasion of subalpine meadows by trees in the cascade Range, Washington and Oregon – Arct. Antarct. Alp. Res. 3: 215–224.
• Fulé P.Z., Covington W.W., Moore M.M. 1997 – Determining reference conditions for ecosystem management of southwestern ponderosa pine forests – Ecol. Appl. 7: 895–908.
• Gates D.M. 1990 – Climatic change and forests – Tree Physiol. 7: 1–5.
• Hao Z.Q., Dai L.M., He H.S., Malandnoff D.J., Shao G.F. 2001 – Potential response of major tree species to climate warming in Changbai Mountain, Northeast – Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 12: 653–658. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Hett J.L., Loucks O.L. 1976 – Age structure models of balsam fir and eastern hemlock – J. Ecol. 64: 1029 –1044.
• Kullman L. 1987 – Long-term dynamics of high-altitude populations of Pinus sylvestris in the Swedish Scandes – J. Biogeogr. 14: 1–8.
• Li X.Q., Dodson J., Zhou J., Wang S.M., Sun Q.L. 2005 – Vegetation and climate variations at Taibai, Qinling Mountains in central China for the last 3500 cal BP – Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 47: 905–916.
• Liu H.Y., Wang H.Y., Cui H.T. 2003 – Climatic changes and timberline responses over the past 2 000 years on the alpine zone of Mt. Taibai – Quaternary Sciences, 23: 299–308. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Mast J.N., Fulé P.Z., Moore M.M., Covington W.W., Waltz A.E.M. 1999 – Restoration of presettlement age structure of an Arizona ponderosa pine forest – Ecol. Appl. 9: 228–239.
• Miyadokoro T., Nishimura N., Yamamoto S. 2003 – Population structure and spatial patterns of major trees in a subalpine old-growth coniferous forest, central Japan – For. Ecol. Manage. 182: 259–272.
• Payette S., Filion I. 1985 –White spruce expansion at the tree line and recent climatic change – Can. J. For. Res. 15: 241–251.
• Peet R.K., Christensen N.L. 1987 – Competition and tree death – BioScience, 37: 586–594.
• Ross M.S., Sharik T.L., Smith D.W. 1982 – Age structure relationships of tree species in an Appalachian oak forest in southwest Virginia – Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 108: 287–298.
• Stewart G.H. 1986 – Population dynamics of a montane conifer forest, western Casade Range, Oregon,USA – Ecology, 67: 534–544.
• Stokes M.A., Smiley T.L. 1968 – An introduction to tree-ring dating – University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
• Sykes M.T., Prentice I.C. 1996 – Climatic change, tree species distribution and forest dynamics: a case study in the mixed conifer/hardwoods zone of northern Europe – Climatic Change, 34: 161–177.
• Svensson J.S., Jeglum J.K. 2001 – Structure and dynamics of an undisturbed old-growth Norway spruce forest on the rising Bothnian coastline – For. Ecol. Manage. 151: 67–79.
• Tang Z.Y. 2003 – Patterns of plant species diversity in the Qinling Mountains, Central China – Ph. Doctor’s Thesis, Pekin University.
• Tang Z.Y., Fang J.Y. 2006 – Temperature variation along the northern and southern slopes of Mt. Taibai, China – Agr. For. Meteorol. 139: 200–207.
• Wang T., Liang Y.H., Ren B., Yu D., Ni J., Ma K.P. 2004 – Age structure of Picea schrenkiana forest along an altitudinal gradient in the central Tianshan Mountains, northwestern China – For. Ecol. Manage. 196: 267–274.
• Zhang L. 2004 – Eco-physiological characteristics of seed germination of Larix chinensis, a timberline tree – Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 28: 579–583.
• Zhang W.H., Wang Y.P., Kang Y.X., Liu X.J. 2004 – Age structure and time sequence prediction of populations of an endangered plant, Larix chinensis – Biodiversity Science, 12: 361–369. (in Chinese, with English summary).
• Zhou X.F., Wang X.C., Han S.J., Zou C.J. 2002 – The effect of global climate change on the dynamics of Betula ermanii-tundra ecotone in the changbal mountains – Front. Earth Sci. China, 9: 227–231. (in Chinese, with English summary).