桂西南北热带喀斯特季节性雨林土壤钾、钙、镁空间分布特征及其影响因素

矿质元素是土壤养分的重要组分,关系着森林生态系统的群落组成和生物地球化学循环。喀斯特局域尺度内地形异质性较高,目前尚缺乏地形等非生物因子和生物因子如何影响喀斯特地区土壤矿质元素空间分布方面的研究。本文在弄岗北热带喀斯特季节性雨林15 ha森林动态监测样地中沿海拔梯度设立的100个凋落物收集器所在位点进行土壤取样,对样品中的K、Ca、Mg 3种矿质元素含量进行测定,并基于空间回归模型和变差分解等方法对喀斯特季节性雨林中土壤K、Ca、Mg与生态因子之间的关联进行定量分析,探讨非生物因子和生物因子与其空间分布特征的内在关联,以期为北热带喀斯特生物地球化学循环研究和脆弱喀斯特生态系统保护提供科学依据。结果表明,研究区内土壤K、Ca、Mg均存在空间自相关性,Ca与海拔和凹凸度显著正相关,主要聚集在山脊区域;K与地形湿润度指数显著正相关,主要在洼地聚集;Mg在中坡位表现出聚集特征。变差分解显示生态因子对土壤K、Ca、Mg空间分布的驱动作用强于空间结构,单个生态因子中海拔的解释度最高,并且非生物因子的解释度总体上高于生物因子,生物因子中物种丰富度解释度最高,同时Mg的聚集伴随着较高的物种丰富度水平。

桂西南喀斯特季节性雨林幼树更新的空间分布格局及机制

幼树是维持森林生态系统物种多样性的重要组分,关系着森林的群落结构和生长动态。因此,开展幼树更新的空间分布格局及其潜在机制研究对森林群落动态至关重要。本文以广西弄岗桂西南喀斯特季节性雨林15 ha森林动态监测样地为研究对象,选取2011-2016年的调查数据,采用空间点格局和冗余分析方法对5年间样地内新增幼树(DBH≥1 cm)的个体数量、空间格局特征和影响因子等进行分析。结果表明:5年间样地内新增幼树共101种,占2011年调查物种的45.3%,幼树密度为196.5株/ha。新增幼树在0-7 m和10-16 m尺度上呈聚集分布,在16 m尺度以上主要呈随机分布。海拔是影响幼树更新的主要因素,其次是地形湿润度,而生物因子对幼树更新的影响较弱。幼树数量与海拔呈负相关,与地形湿润度呈正相关。成树个体与幼树更新中度正相关。在喀斯特季节性雨林中,幼树更新及其空间分布格局受多种影响因子协同作用,可能与种子扩散限制和生境异质性有关。

桂西南喀斯特季节性雨林叶凋落量的时空动态

森林凋落物是森林生态系统极其重要的组成部分,关系着森林生态系统的物质循环和养分平衡。然而,有关异质性自然森林生态系统中生物与非生物因子对凋落物凋落量的影响机制还存在较大争议。本文以广西弄岗15ha森林动态监测样地中设置的90个凋落物收集器所收集的凋落叶为研究对象,选取2013-2018年连续6年的凋落叶数据探讨了森林叶凋落量的时空动态,旨在深入了解该地区森林生态系统的物质循环过程及凋落量的影响因子。结果显示:2013-2018年的年均叶凋落量为4,099.44 kg/ha,标准误为232.34,变异系数为0.15,这表明不同年际间叶凋落量存在明显差异;不同年际间叶凋落量的节律性变化为双峰型、三峰型或多峰型,说明不同年份的叶凋落量存在明显的节律性差异,但总体而言高峰期主要出现在每年的春季(3-4月)和秋季(8-10月);生态因子对叶凋落量年际动态存在显著影响,其累计解释率为69.3%,其中海拔对叶凋落量的影响最强,解释率为46.5%;而生物因子如胸径变异系数、单位面积胸高断面积之和和物种丰富度则对叶凋落量的影响较弱。多年的连续监测表明,喀斯特季节性雨林不同年际间叶片的凋落量和节律性存在显著差异,而非生物因子,如海拔是形成叶凋落量空间变异的主要因素。

Root–shoot competition interactions cause diversity loss after fertilization:a field experiment in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

Aims A decrease in species diversity after fertilization is a common phenomenon in grasslands;however,the mechanism causing it remains highly controversial.The light competition hypothesis to explain loss of diversity has received much attention.The aim of the present paper was to test this hypothesis.Methods Fertilization was used to control above-and belowground resources simultaneously,while shade was used to control aboveground resource in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau.Univariate general linear models was used to estimate the effects of fertilization and shade on above-and belowground vegetation characteristics,including photosynthetically active radiation(PAR)in the understory,aboveground biomass,belowground biomass,R:S ratio,species richness and Simpson’s diversity index.Important findings PAR was similar in the understory of shaded and fertilized plots,but only fertilization reduced species richness and diversity,suggesting that light competition alone could not explain diversity loss after fertilization.The root biomass and R:S ratio had a significant increase in shaded plots,but the richness and diversity did not change,suggesting that root competition alone also could not explain diversity loss after fertilization in this community.Our results illustrated that the root–shoot competition interactions,investigated from a functional groups perspective,should be the most reasonable explanation leading to the diversity loss due to fertilization.

Topographic species-habitat associations of tree species in a heterogeneous tropical karst seasonal rain forest, China

Aims Tropical and subtropical karst forests of south China are under increas-ing pressure from over-exploitation causing widespread habitat degra-dation and biodiversity loss.Previous research has demonstrated that topography,as a proxy for resource availability,plays an important role in shaping tree species distributions in tropical forests.However,the association between growth stages and habitats types has not been considered in this analysis.Our aim was to examine the differences among different habitat types to determine whether tree species show similar species-habitat associations at young and mature life stages.Methods We used multivariate regression tree analysis to examined species-habitat associations among eight topographically defined habitats.The results were tested with a torus-translation test and canonical correspondence analysis(CCA)for 74 species in a 15 ha karst tropi-cal seasonal rain forest at the Nonggang National Natural Reserve in south China.We considered two life stages(young and mature)of trees species that showed a positive association with topography.Important Findings We found marked differences in community characteristics and number of associations among the eight habitats.Of the 74 species subjected to torus-translation test,63 had significant positive and 70 had significant negative associations with one or more of the eight habitats.Positive associations were more frequent in higher elevation habitats and negative associations were more frequent in lower eleva-tion habitats.This suggests that edaphic and hydrological variation related to topography play important roles in habitat partitioning in heterogeneous karst forests.For the 63 tree species with significant positive associations to at least one habitat,40 of them had the same positive association at young and mature life stages.The CCA revealed that the six topographic variables considered had consistent relation-ships with species distribution among all individuals and their two life stages.This indicates that most of the karst forest tree species show consistent associations with a single habitat throughout their life.We conclude that niche differentiation plays an important role in main-taining the diversity of this heterogeneous species-rich karst forest.

Seed germinating characteristics of 54 gramineous species in the alpine meadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau

The germination experiment was started on March 3,2004,and seeds were collected from July to October in 2003.We analyzed the percentage of germination,days to first germination,germination period and days to 50%germination.Among the 54 examined species,26 species exceeded 80%germination,11 species exceeded 60%–80%germination,8 exceeded 40%–0%,5 exceeded 20%–40%,and 4 showed less than 20%.A principalcomponent analysis revealed that the species were distributed along two statistically independent axes,the first primarily represented the germination rate and the second represented the time of germination process.Based on scores of germination characteristics,cluster analysis of the 54 gramineous species could be divided into 4 distinct groups:rapid,slow,intermediate germinating(germination percentage>50%),and low germinating(germination percentage<50%).The meaning of different groups to the vegetation regeneration was discussed.