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Altitude versus vegetation as the factors influencing the diversity and abundance of earthworms and other soil macrofauna in montane habitat (Silesian Beskid Mts, Western Carpatians)

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Rozen A., Maslajek R. W., Sobczyk L.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2013

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tom 61

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nr 1

The search for global regularities governing the biodiversity of living organisms has a long history, and altitudinal gradients have explanatory power. To determine whether soil animals exhibit altitudinal gradients of abundance and diversity and to assess the impact of plant communities (meadows and forests) on any observed patterns, we studied soil invertebrates along an altitudinal gradient of 500–1000 m a.s.l. in the Silesian Beskid Mts (Western Carpathians). Ten study plots were established in three vegetation zones in meadows and also forested sites (spruce, beech, oak-hornbeam, riparian). In spring, summer and autumn of 2004, 2005 and 2006, five soil samples (20 × 20 × 25 cm) were dug from every study plot on each occasion and invertebrates were separated from the soil by hand-sorting . Earthworms were identified to species, and other invertebrates to higher taxa. The two types of plant associations studied (meadow, forest) differed significantly in the population density and biomass of soil invertebrates – earthworms were more numerous in meadows (132.3 ind. m⁻² in meadows and 24 ind. m⁻² in forests) and other invertebrates in forests (57.7 ind. m⁻² in meadows and 67.4 ind. m⁻² in forests). Density tended to be higher in summer than in other seasons, and at minimum in autumn. Meadows of foothills and the lower montane zone were richest in earthworm species (7 species). Upper montane meadow, upper montane spruce forest and lower montane beech forest were poorest in earthworms (2 species).The most abundant animals among other invertebrates were larvae of Coleoptera and Diptera. Coleoptera larvae dominated at higher altitudes. The density and biomass of earthworms in meadows correlated negatively with elevation (density, r = -0.52, biomass r = -0.66). The corresponding correlations for other invertebrates were much weaker (density, r=-0.32; biomass, r = -0.31). The diversity of earthworms tended to decrease with altitude in meadows. Sites at higher elevations were poorer in species of both earthworms and other invertebrates. For both earthworms and other invertebrates in spruce forest there were no differences in biodiversity indices along the altitudinal gradient.

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Foliar responses of Abie fargesii Franch. to altitude in the Taibai Mts, China

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Xu P., Zhang X., Zhao C., Chen L., Gao X., Yao B., Deng J., Deng Y.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2014

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tom 62

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nr 3

Physiological and ecological adaptations of altitudinal gradients reveal alpine plants’ ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental changes. Here we quantitatively investigated the variation in the foliar physiological and morphological traits of alpine tree species (Abies fargesii) along the altitudinal gradient in the Taibai Mountains, China. We collected the needle samples of Taibai fir (A. fargesii) from seven sites at altitudes of 2550, 2650, 2750, 2850, 2950, 3050 and 3150 m, respectively, and measured the 12 foliar physiological and morphological traits. Each set of needle sample (100 needles) was randomly selected from the upper- third of A. fargesii canopies. The results showed that leaf mass per unit area (LMA), stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C), stomatal rows (SR), leaf carbon concentration per unit area (Carea), leaf nitrogen concentration per unit leaf mass (Nmass) and area (Narea) linearly increase significantly while stomatal density (SD), number of stomata per unit nitrogen concentration (St/N) and per unit leaf mass (St/LM) decrease with the altitudes raise. Moreover, all measured traits presented both strong correlations and significantly linear relationships with the main climate factors such as the mean temperature, rainfall and relative humidity during the growing season as well as the altitudes, except for leaf free water concentration (LWC), leaf carbon concentration per unit leaf mass (Cmass) and C: N ratio. The patterns of foliar traits in response to altitudes imply that the alpine plants need higher cost (e.g. higher nutrient concentration) to adapt to the harsher environments along altitudinal gradient. Moreover, our results show that the variation patterns of the leaf traits for A. fargesii plants should be driven by the interactions of multi-climate factors because the abiotic factors that directly influence the growth of plants covary with the increasing altitudes.

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Leaf morphology shift of three dominant species along altitudinal gradient in an Alpine meadow of the Quinghai - Tibetan Plateau

100%

Zhong M., Wang J., Liu K., Wu R., Liu Y., Wei X., Pan D., Shao X.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2014

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tom 62

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nr 4

It has been observed that leaf morphology shift within species is linked to climate change, but there are few studies on the effects of altitude change on leaf morphology of species. We hypothesized that similar to climate change, a morphological shift within species would occur over time under different growing altitudes. In this study, we evaluated three dominant grass species: Elymus nutans Griseb., Kobresia capillifolia Clarke., Carex moorcroftii Boott., taking advantage of the altitudinal variations (3000-4000 a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our study showed that almost all leaf traits of these three species had significant differences (P <0.05) across an altitudinal gradient. Different species responded differently to altitude change. Leaf thickness (LT) of the three species increased with increase in altitude. Leaf area (LA) of E. nutans and C. moorcroftii decreased with increasing altitude, but that of K. capillifolia increased. There was no obvious linear effect on leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and specific leaf area (SLA) of these three species. LDMC of E. nutans and C. moorcroftii showed a trend of increase, while that of K. capillifolia decreased. SLA of E. nutans and K. capillifolia showed a trend of increase, but that of C. moorcroftii decreased with increase in altitude. In addition, soil pH (pH) and air temperature (AT) decreased with increase in altitude. However, other soil and climate factors increased as altitude increased. The finding of this work is that leaf morphology shift within species happens under altitude change to adapt to specific environment.

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Changes in horizontal structure of natural beech forests on an altitudinal gradient in the Sudetes

100%

Vacek Z., Vacek S., Bilek L., Remes J., Stefancik I.

Dendrobiology

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2015

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tom 73

The article describes horizontal structure of the tree layer, natural regeneration, snags and crown projections of natural beech stands on three permanent research plots in the wide altitudinal range in the Krkonoše Mts (Czech Republic). The spatial structure was classified from 1980 to 2010 and subsequently the prediction of spontaneous development with an outlook for 30 years (to 2040) was done by growth simulator. Hopkins-Skellam index, Pielou-Mountford index, Clark-Evans index and Ripley’s K-function were calculated. Further, the vertical structure and total diversity index was evaluated. The horizontal structure of individuals in the tree layer had not changed significantly during the monitored years. Tree spatial pattern of the lowest altitude lying herb-rich beech forest was mostly regular to random, in acidophilous mountain beech forest predominantly random and in fragments of beech groups around the timberline aggregated. Juvenile growth on all investigated plots was distributed aggregated and snags randomly. The horizontal structure of crown projection centroids had always higher values toward the regularity than tree layer and was random to regular. The result of principal component analysis also confirmed that spatial pattern was dependent on the altitude, but also on the number of trees.

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Forest patch dynamics initiated by disturbance: distribution pattern of Larix chinensis (Bessen) patches along the altitudinal gradient in relation to light and temperature conditions (Qinling Mts. China)

80%

Duan R.-Y., Huang M.-Y., Wang X.-A.

Polish Journal of Ecology

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2013

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tom 61

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nr 2

According to the theory of forest growth cycle, forest communities are dynamic mosaic systems composed of patches in different development stages. On basis of measurement of the four patch types [gap phase (G), building phase (B), mature phase (M) and degenerate phase (D)], the distribution pattern of different patch types and heterogeneity of the light and temperature along an altitudinal gradient were analyzed. The study forests were located in Larix chinensis forests in the Taibai Natural Reserve, and the whole forest was divided into three transects, i.e. low altitude (2900–3000 m a.s.l.), middle altitude (3100–3200 m a.s.l.) and high altitude (3300–3400 m a.s.l.). The implications of environmental heterogeneity on species coexistence and maintenance of species diversity were discussed in this paper. Our results were as follows: (1) In different elevation gradient, the proportions of the four patch types were different. Compared with low elevation and high elevation, in middle elevation, the proportions of gap phase and building phase were obviously lower; while the proportions of mature phase and degenerate phase were noticeably higher. In different elevation gradient, the distribution pattern of the four patch types was changed to some extent. (2) The daily change patterns of light and temperature in different patch types in forest cycle were different. The light intensity was much greater in gap phase than in the other three phases. The light intensity and its amplitude of changes in different patch types followed the order of G>D>B≥M. Air temperature in different patch types followed the order of G>B>D≥M. The amplitude of diurnal temperature changes in air and soil surface followed the order of G>D>B>M. (3) With elevation increasing, light intensity, the biggest air temperature, biggest soil temperature and temperature difference in four patch phase increased significantly, and average air temperature and average soil temperature significantly decreased. The spatio-temporal heterogeneity of ecological factors in different patch types in forest cycle provided a basis to maintain the coexistence of different species with different characteristics within forest community.

Ograniczanie wyników

4 Polish Journal of Ecology

1 Dendrobiology

1 Bilek L.

1 Chen L.

1 Deng J.

1 Deng Y.

1 Duan R.-Y.

1 Gao X.

1 Huang M.-Y.

1 Liu K.

1 Liu Y.

1 Maslajek R. W.

1 Pan D.

1 Remes J.

1 Rozen A.

1 Shao X.

1 Sobczyk L.

1 Stefancik I.

1 Vacek S.

1 Vacek Z.

1 Wang J.

1 Wang X.-A.

1 Wei X.

1 Wu R.

1 Xu P.

1 Yao B.

1 Zhang X.

1 Zhao C.

1 Zhong M.

1 2015

2 2014

2 2013

Altitude versus vegetation as the factors influencing the diversity and abundance of earthworms and other soil macrofauna in montane habitat (Silesian Beskid Mts, Western Carpatians)

Foliar responses of Abie fargesii Franch. to altitude in the Taibai Mts, China

Leaf morphology shift of three dominant species along altitudinal gradient in an Alpine meadow of the Quinghai - Tibetan Plateau

Changes in horizontal structure of natural beech forests on an altitudinal gradient in the Sudetes

Forest patch dynamics initiated by disturbance: distribution pattern of Larix chinensis (Bessen) patches along the altitudinal gradient in relation to light and temperature conditions (Qinling Mts. China)