The Gongga Mountain of eastern Tibet Plateau is a representative of the alpine regions with high peaks and deep valleys. Climate change over the last thousand years has controlled the dynamics of glacier and debris fl...The Gongga Mountain of eastern Tibet Plateau is a representative of the alpine regions with high peaks and deep valleys. Climate change over the last thousand years has controlled the dynamics of glacier and debris flow occurrence, which resulted in substantial changes in the mountainous environment. The authors surveyed the community structure of primary forests in Gongga Mountain and forest succession processes in woodland plots. The changing features in the subalpine environment are discussed in this paper. Tree species and sizes between the glacier shrinking areas and debris flow fans in Hailuogou Valley are compared. The pioneer species that settle in debris flow fans and the glacier shrinking areas are Salix spp. and Populus purdomii. Abies fabri and Picea brachytyla are the climax tree species. The succession process of primary vegetation in Hailuogou (2700 ~ 3200 m) can be divided into four stages: Slash surface (20~ 200 yr) Salix-Populus seeding community (10 ~ 30 yr) Populus-Salix sapling community (30 ~ 100 yr) Populus-Abies mixed community (50 ~ 100 yr) Abies-Picea climax In a natural and undisturbed environment, trees compete for light, water and nutrients. Disaster disturbance in mountains is a very important driving factor for regeneration of woody plants. Repeated destruction of forests by glacier movement or debris flows generated additional forest gaps that allow young plants to grow. In this study the Gongga Forest Succession Model (GFSM) was developed for simulation of forest community succession processes on different scales in Gongga Mountain. A soil succession module was added to the GFSM model to simulate soil formation and chemical element change of woodland. In order to represent major features of forests in Southwestern China, many field works has been done to identify ecological parameters of various trees in the subalpine region. On the basis of simulation of tree life history, the GFSM combines forest succession with soil change in both material components and nutrition content. The Monte-Carlo method was applied to simulate random weather fluctuation and the uncertainty of tree death. These modeled processes agreed with the field investigation results in this region. The elevation distribution of different tree species was also simulated; and the results are consistent with field observations of ecological features of tree species. The modeling approach reflects well the succession dynamics of primary forests in Southwestern China. These results are very useful for improving the management policies and prediction technology for restoration and conservation of primary forests in Southwestern China.展开更多
The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecot...The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecotone. The ecotone position and structure are dynamic over time and space and it is driven by the changes in climate, land use or their interaction. In this context, we assessed the forest- grassland ecotone of temperate mountains in central Nepal by i） comparing species composition and richness across the ecotone, ii） analyzing if the forestgrassland ecotone is shifting towards the grassland center by colonizing them with trees, and iii） discussing the consequence of changed disturbance regime in the dynamics of this ecotone and the surrounding grasslands. We analyzed vegetation data sampled from belt transects laid across the forest- grassland ecotone in semi-natural grassland patches. Vegetation data consisting of species richness and composition, and size structure and regeneration of the two most dominant tree species, namely Rhododendron arboreum and Abies spectabilis, from the transects, were used to analyze the trend of the forest-grassland ecotone. Forest and grasslands were different in terms of floristic composition and diversity. Vascular plant speciesrichness linearly increased while moving from forest interior to grassland center. Spatial pattern of tree size structure and regeneration infers that forest boundary is advancing towards the grasslands at the expense of the grassland area, and tree establishment in the grasslands is part of a suceessional process. Temporally, tree establishment in grasslands started following the gradual decline in disturbance. We argue that local processes in terms of changed land use may best explain the phenomenon of ecotone shift and consequent forest expansion in these grasslands. We underpin the need for further research on the mechanism, rate and spatial extent of ecotone shift by using advaneed tools to understand the process indepth.展开更多
文摘The Gongga Mountain of eastern Tibet Plateau is a representative of the alpine regions with high peaks and deep valleys. Climate change over the last thousand years has controlled the dynamics of glacier and debris flow occurrence, which resulted in substantial changes in the mountainous environment. The authors surveyed the community structure of primary forests in Gongga Mountain and forest succession processes in woodland plots. The changing features in the subalpine environment are discussed in this paper. Tree species and sizes between the glacier shrinking areas and debris flow fans in Hailuogou Valley are compared. The pioneer species that settle in debris flow fans and the glacier shrinking areas are Salix spp. and Populus purdomii. Abies fabri and Picea brachytyla are the climax tree species. The succession process of primary vegetation in Hailuogou (2700 ~ 3200 m) can be divided into four stages: Slash surface (20~ 200 yr) Salix-Populus seeding community (10 ~ 30 yr) Populus-Salix sapling community (30 ~ 100 yr) Populus-Abies mixed community (50 ~ 100 yr) Abies-Picea climax In a natural and undisturbed environment, trees compete for light, water and nutrients. Disaster disturbance in mountains is a very important driving factor for regeneration of woody plants. Repeated destruction of forests by glacier movement or debris flows generated additional forest gaps that allow young plants to grow. In this study the Gongga Forest Succession Model (GFSM) was developed for simulation of forest community succession processes on different scales in Gongga Mountain. A soil succession module was added to the GFSM model to simulate soil formation and chemical element change of woodland. In order to represent major features of forests in Southwestern China, many field works has been done to identify ecological parameters of various trees in the subalpine region. On the basis of simulation of tree life history, the GFSM combines forest succession with soil change in both material components and nutrition content. The Monte-Carlo method was applied to simulate random weather fluctuation and the uncertainty of tree death. These modeled processes agreed with the field investigation results in this region. The elevation distribution of different tree species was also simulated; and the results are consistent with field observations of ecological features of tree species. The modeling approach reflects well the succession dynamics of primary forests in Southwestern China. These results are very useful for improving the management policies and prediction technology for restoration and conservation of primary forests in Southwestern China.
基金financial support from the NOrad's Program for MAsters Studies (NOMA) at Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepalfunded by the Norwegian Research Council (190153/V10)Grolle Olsens Legat
文摘The ecotone, the spatial transition zone between two vegetation communities, is claimed to have more species than the adjoining communities. However, empirical studies do not always confirm higher richness at the ecotone. The ecotone position and structure are dynamic over time and space and it is driven by the changes in climate, land use or their interaction. In this context, we assessed the forest- grassland ecotone of temperate mountains in central Nepal by i） comparing species composition and richness across the ecotone, ii） analyzing if the forestgrassland ecotone is shifting towards the grassland center by colonizing them with trees, and iii） discussing the consequence of changed disturbance regime in the dynamics of this ecotone and the surrounding grasslands. We analyzed vegetation data sampled from belt transects laid across the forest- grassland ecotone in semi-natural grassland patches. Vegetation data consisting of species richness and composition, and size structure and regeneration of the two most dominant tree species, namely Rhododendron arboreum and Abies spectabilis, from the transects, were used to analyze the trend of the forest-grassland ecotone. Forest and grasslands were different in terms of floristic composition and diversity. Vascular plant speciesrichness linearly increased while moving from forest interior to grassland center. Spatial pattern of tree size structure and regeneration infers that forest boundary is advancing towards the grasslands at the expense of the grassland area, and tree establishment in the grasslands is part of a suceessional process. Temporally, tree establishment in grasslands started following the gradual decline in disturbance. We argue that local processes in terms of changed land use may best explain the phenomenon of ecotone shift and consequent forest expansion in these grasslands. We underpin the need for further research on the mechanism, rate and spatial extent of ecotone shift by using advaneed tools to understand the process indepth.
