热带雨林林冠层和林下层生物捕食水平的调查

指出了热带雨林作为地球上生物多样性最为丰富的生态系统,有着复杂的物理结构和生物交互。林冠层和林下层由于接受光照等条件不同,造成了不同的微环境。在不同的微环境里,蚂蚁和鸟类等捕食者对植食性昆虫的捕食水平可能有所差异。利用绿色橡皮泥制作模拟自然状态下的毛毛虫,探究了其在热带雨林林冠和林下层的被捕食的水平的差异。结果显示:林下层的捕食水平显著高于林冠层,并且蚂蚁有着显著高于鸟类的捕食水平。这说明热带雨林的林冠层资源丰富、结构复杂,在为植食性昆虫提供大量食物资源的同时也能为其提供庇护从而躲避天敌,尤其是鸟类的捕食。

An Evaluation of Crown Structure and Site Index to Determine Crown Closure in Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis Stands in Guangxi,China

Eucalyptus forests are grown in many parts of the world for their commercial value and use in construction projects. Density management becomes im- portant as a means to attain the management goals in these forests. Changes in canopy and tree crown structure were quantified for Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis forests at different ages to determine when canopy closure occurs and the onset of competition begins. Site index was developed for these forests to determine whether site quality affects the canopy structure. Site index had little effect in the forests sampled, with the forest canopy on the better sites becoming slightly more elongated. Based upon crown projection ratio and crown diameter： dbh （diameter at breast height） ratio, it appears that crown closure occurs by age 4 years in these forests. The age at which this occurs was also checked and verified with the evaluation of relative spacing, RS （the ratio of the mean distance between trees to the average dominant height of the stand）. The RS value displayed a rapid decline until age 4 years, and then became relatively flat through age 21 years. The rapid height growth during the first 3 years with no change in density accounted for this rapid decrease. By age 4 years, reductions in the number of trees due to mortality began to have more of an influence on this value, resulting in a more gradual de- cline. The implications for management are discussed.

An Evaluation of Spaceborne Imaging Spectrometry for Estimation of Forest Canopy Nitrogen Concentration in a Subtropical Conifer Plantation of Southern China

Canopy foliar Nitrogen Concentration （CNC） is one of the most important parameters influencing vegetation productivity in forest ecosystems. In this study, we explored the potential of imaging spectrometry （hyperspectral） remote sensing of CNC in conifer plantations in China’s subtropical red soil hilly region. Our analysis included data from 57 field plots scattered across two transects covered by Hyperion images. Single regression and partial least squares regression （PLSR） were used to explore the relationships between CNC and hyperspectral data. The correlations between CNC and nearinfrared relfectance （NIR） were consistent in three data subsets （subsets A-C）. For all subsets, CNC was signiifcantly positively correlated with NIR in the two transects （R2=0.29, 0.33 and 0.36, P＆lt;0.05 or P＆lt;0.01, respectively）. It suggested that the NIR-CNC relationship exist despite a weak one, and the relationship may be weakened by the single canopy structure. Besides, we also applied a shortwave infrared （SWIR） index - Normalized Difference Nitrogen Index （NDNI） to estimate CNC variation. NDNI presented a signiifcant positive correlation with CNC in different subsets, but like NIR, it was also with low coefifcient of determination （R2=0.38, 0.20 and 0.17, P＆lt;0.01, respectively）. Also, the correlations between CNC and the entire spectrum reflectance （or its derivative and logarithmic transformation） by PLSR owned different signiifcance in various subsets. We did not ifnd the very robust relationship like previous literatures, so the data we used were checked again. The paired T-test was applied to estimate the inlfuence of inter-annual variability of FNC on the relationships between CNC and Hyperion data. The inter-annual mismatch between period of ifeldwork and Hyperion acquisition had no inlfuence on the correlations of CNC-Hyperion data. Meanwhile, we pointed out that the lack of the canopy structure variation in conifer plantation area may lead to these weak relationships.

Recovery of Vegetation Canopy after Severe Fire in 2000 at the Black Hills National Forest,South Dakota,USA

Forest fires often result in varying degrees of canopy loss in forested landscapes. The subsequent trajectory of vegetation canopy recovery is important for ecosystem processes because the canopy controls photosynthesis and evapotranspiration. The loss and recovery of a canopy is often measured by leaf area index （LAD and other vegetation indices that are related to canopy photosynthetic capacity. In this study we used time series imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS） sensor onboard the Terra satellite over the period of 2000-2009 to track the recovery of the vegetation canopy after fire. The Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota, USA experienced an extensive wildfire starting on August 24, 2000 that burned a total area of 33 785 ha, most of which was ponderosa pine forest. The MODIS data show that canopy photosynthetic capacity, as measured by IL,AI, recovered within 3 years （2001-2003）. This recovery was attributed to rapid emergence of understory grass species after the fire event. Satellite-based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index （NDVI） and Enhanced Vegetation Index （EVI） at the burned sites also recovered within 3 years （2001-2003）. Rapid recovery of LAI, NDVI, and EVI at the burned sites makes it difficult to use these variables for identifying and mapping burned sites several years after the fire event. However, the Land Surface Water Index （LSWI）, calculated as a normalized ratio between near infrared and shortwave infrared bands （band 2 and band 6 （1628 1652 nm） in MODIS sensor）, was able to identify and track the burned sites over the entire period of 2000 2009. This fmding opens a window of opportunity to identify and map disturbances using imagery from those sensors with both NIR and SWIR bands, including Landsat 5 TM （dating back to 1984）; furthermore, a longer record of disturbance and recovery helps to improve our understanding of disturbance regimes, simulations of forest succession, and the carbon cycle.

Forest canopy height mapping over China using GLAS and MODIS data

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System(GLAS)accurately detects the vertical structural information of a target within its laser spot and is a promising system for the inversion of structural features and other biophysical parameters of forest ecosystems.Since the GLAS footprints are discontinuously distributed with a relativity low density,continuous vegetation height distributions cannot be mapped with a high accuracy using GLAS data alone.The MODIS BRDF product provides more forest structural information than other optical remote sensing data.This study aimed to map forest canopy heights over China from the GLAS and MODIS BRDF data.Firstly,the waveform characteristic parameters were extracted from the GLAS data by the method of wavelet analysis,and the terrain index was calculated using the ASTER GDEM data.Secondly,the model reducing the topographic influence was constructed from the waveform characteristic parameters and terrain index.Thirdly,the final canopy height estimation model was constructed from the neural network combining the canopy height estimated with the GLAS point and the MODIS BRDF data,and applied to get the continuous canopy height map over China.Finally,the map was validated by the measured data and the airborne Li DAR data,and the validation results indicated that forest canopy heights can be estimated with high accuracy from combined GLAS and MODIS data.

Response of Somatal Characteristics and its Plasticity to Different Light Intensities in Leaves of Seven Tropical Woody Seedlings

Stomatal characteristics and its plasticity were surveyed in leaves of four canopy species, Shoreachinensis, Pometia tomentosa, Anthocephalus chinensis, Calophyllun polyanthum and three middle-layerspecies, Barringtonia pendula, Garcinia hanburyi, Horsfieldia tetratepala, acclimated to different lightconditions for more than one year. All plants stomata are distributed on the abaxial of leaves. Pometiatomentosa and Barringtonia pendula have higher stomatal density and the guard cell length of Anthocephaluschinensis and Calophyllun polyanthum were much greater than others. Stomatal density and stomatal index(ratio of stomatal numbers to epidermal cell number) were increased with growth irradiance increased, whilenumbers of stomata per leaf were higher in the low than the high relative PFD, and stomatal conductance ofleaves was the highest in the 50% of full light except for Anthocephalus chinensis. The relative PFD has littleeffects on the guard cell length of all seven plants. We have also found a significant negative correlationbetween stomatal density and leaf area, but the stomatal conductance was not significantly positive with thestomatal conductance. The analysis of phenotypic plasticity of stomatal characteristics showed: plasticityindex for stomatal index and numbers of stomatal per leaf were similar for canopy and middle-layer species,while the plasticity index of stomatal density and stomatal conductance were significantly greater for canopyspecies than middle-layer species. The high plasticity of canopy species was consistent with the hypothesisthat specialization in a more favorable environment increases plasticity.