Ecological function regionalization of fluvial corridor landscapes and measures for ecological regeneration in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River, Xinjiang of China

The middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River are currently one of the main regions of ecological restoration in the arid areas of western China.Using the principles and method of landscape ecology,this study has chosen the fluvial corridor landscape in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River,and discusses the region’s ecologically functional regionalization system and issues related to its practical classification.On this basis the corresponding regionalizing principles and standards were developed which were used to qualitatively divide the three main landscapes as the ecologically functional areas in the drainage basin.The paper has also analyzed the characteristic of the study areas,and has put forward the measures for its ecological restoration.

Do forest health threats affect upland oak regeneration and recruitment?Advance reproduction is a key co-morbidity

We analyzed national forest inventory data collected from circa 2000–2018 across 37 states in the eastern United States to better understand the influence of forest health related canopy disturbances on the regeneration and recruitment dynamics of upland oaks(Quercus).We found low levels of oak recruitment across all disturbance types examined but limited evidence of any direct effects from the type of disturbance on the population of regenerating oaks.The general lack of differences in oak regeneration response between forest health disturbances and disturbances caused by harvested or non-disturbed plots does not indicate that the effects of forest health disturbances were benign,however.Instead,low level of oak recruitment across all disturbance types highlights the pervasiveness of the trend of shifting composition in once oak-dominated forests where oak is absent or sparse in the regeneration layer.Our results show that oak recruitment was higher when oak was present as advance reproduction prior to disturbance from any cause examined.Collectively,these results lead us to conclude that the widespread inadequacy of oak advance reproduction in mature oak-dominated forests is the prevailing threat to oak forest health and sustainability.We suggest the status of advance reproduction be treated as a co-morbidity when weighing the risk and potential outcomes from other threats to upland oak forests in the eastern United States.