Understory plants are important components of forest ecosystems and play a crucial role in regulating community structures,function realization,and community succession.However,little is known about how abiotic and bi...Understory plants are important components of forest ecosystems and play a crucial role in regulating community structures,function realization,and community succession.However,little is known about how abiotic and biotic drivers affect the diversity of understory species in cold temperate coniferous forests in the semiarid climate region of North China.We hypothesized that(1)topographic factors are important environmental factors affecting the distribution and variation of understory strata,and(2)different understory strata respond differently to environmental factors;shrubs may be significantly affected by the overstory stratum,and herbs may be more affected by surface soil conditions.To test these hypotheses,we used the boosted regression tree method to analyze abiotic and biotic environmental factors that influence understory species diversity,using data from 280 subplots across 56 sites in cold temperate coniferous forests of North China.Elevation and slope aspect were the dominant and indirect abiotic drivers affecting understory species diversity,and individual tree size inequality(DBH variation)was the dominant biotic driver of understory species diversity;soil water content was the main edaphic factors affecting herb layers.Elevation,slope aspect,and DBH variation accounted for 36.4,14.5,and 12.1%,respectively,of shrub stratum diversity.Shrub diversity decreased with elevation within the range of altitude of this study,but increased with DBH variation;shrub diversity was highest on north-oriented slopes.The strongest factor affecting herb stratum species diversity was slope aspect,accounting for 25.9%of the diversity,followed by elevation(15.7%),slope(12.2%),and soil water content(10.3%).The highest herb diversity was found on southeast-oriented slopes and the lowest on northeast-oriented slopes;herb diversity decreased with elevation and soil water content,but increased with slope.The results of the study provide a reference for scientific management and biodiversity protection in cold temperate coniferous forests of North China.展开更多
An abrupt temperature change and a warming hiatus have strongly influenced the global climate.This study focused on these changes in Inner Mongolia, China. This study used the central clustering method, Mann-Kendall m...An abrupt temperature change and a warming hiatus have strongly influenced the global climate.This study focused on these changes in Inner Mongolia, China. This study used the central clustering method, Mann-Kendall mutation test and other methods to explore the abrupt temperature change and warming hiatus in three different temperature zones of the study region based on average annual data series.Among the temperature metrics investigated, average minimum temperature(Tnav) shifted the earliest,followed by average temperature(Tnv) and average maximum temperature(Txav). The latest change was observed in summer(1990 s), whereas the earliest was observed in winter(1970 s). Before and after the abrupt temperature change, Tnav fluctuated considerably, whereas there was only a slight change in Txav.Before and after the abrupt temperature change, the winter temperature changed more dramatically than the summer temperature. Before the abrupt temperature change, Tnav in the central region(0.322°C/10 a)and west region(0.48°C/10 a) contributed the most to the increasing temperatures. After the abrupt temperature change, Tnav in winter in the central region(0.519°C/10 a) and in autumn in the west region(0.729°C/10 a) contributed the most to the temperature increases. Overall, in the years in which temperature shifts occurred early, a warming hiatus also appeared early. The three temperature metrics in spring(1991)in the east region were the first to exhibit a warming hiatus. In the east region, Txav displayed the lowest rate of increase(0.412°C/a) in the period after the abrupt temperature change and before the warming hiatus,and the highest rate of increase after the warming hiatus.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.31470630)Shanxi Forestry Science and Technology Innovation Project
文摘Understory plants are important components of forest ecosystems and play a crucial role in regulating community structures,function realization,and community succession.However,little is known about how abiotic and biotic drivers affect the diversity of understory species in cold temperate coniferous forests in the semiarid climate region of North China.We hypothesized that(1)topographic factors are important environmental factors affecting the distribution and variation of understory strata,and(2)different understory strata respond differently to environmental factors;shrubs may be significantly affected by the overstory stratum,and herbs may be more affected by surface soil conditions.To test these hypotheses,we used the boosted regression tree method to analyze abiotic and biotic environmental factors that influence understory species diversity,using data from 280 subplots across 56 sites in cold temperate coniferous forests of North China.Elevation and slope aspect were the dominant and indirect abiotic drivers affecting understory species diversity,and individual tree size inequality(DBH variation)was the dominant biotic driver of understory species diversity;soil water content was the main edaphic factors affecting herb layers.Elevation,slope aspect,and DBH variation accounted for 36.4,14.5,and 12.1%,respectively,of shrub stratum diversity.Shrub diversity decreased with elevation within the range of altitude of this study,but increased with DBH variation;shrub diversity was highest on north-oriented slopes.The strongest factor affecting herb stratum species diversity was slope aspect,accounting for 25.9%of the diversity,followed by elevation(15.7%),slope(12.2%),and soil water content(10.3%).The highest herb diversity was found on southeast-oriented slopes and the lowest on northeast-oriented slopes;herb diversity decreased with elevation and soil water content,but increased with slope.The results of the study provide a reference for scientific management and biodiversity protection in cold temperate coniferous forests of North China.
基金supported by the Program for Young Talents of Science and Technology in Universities of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regionthe National Key Research and Development Plan (2017YFC0404305)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51669016)
文摘An abrupt temperature change and a warming hiatus have strongly influenced the global climate.This study focused on these changes in Inner Mongolia, China. This study used the central clustering method, Mann-Kendall mutation test and other methods to explore the abrupt temperature change and warming hiatus in three different temperature zones of the study region based on average annual data series.Among the temperature metrics investigated, average minimum temperature(Tnav) shifted the earliest,followed by average temperature(Tnv) and average maximum temperature(Txav). The latest change was observed in summer(1990 s), whereas the earliest was observed in winter(1970 s). Before and after the abrupt temperature change, Tnav fluctuated considerably, whereas there was only a slight change in Txav.Before and after the abrupt temperature change, the winter temperature changed more dramatically than the summer temperature. Before the abrupt temperature change, Tnav in the central region(0.322°C/10 a)and west region(0.48°C/10 a) contributed the most to the increasing temperatures. After the abrupt temperature change, Tnav in winter in the central region(0.519°C/10 a) and in autumn in the west region(0.729°C/10 a) contributed the most to the temperature increases. Overall, in the years in which temperature shifts occurred early, a warming hiatus also appeared early. The three temperature metrics in spring(1991)in the east region were the first to exhibit a warming hiatus. In the east region, Txav displayed the lowest rate of increase(0.412°C/a) in the period after the abrupt temperature change and before the warming hiatus,and the highest rate of increase after the warming hiatus.
