Observations and Modeling of Incoming Longwave Radiation to Snow Beneath Forest Canopies in the West Tianshan Mountains, China

Forest canopy reduces shortwave radiation and increases the incoming longwave radiation to snowpacks beneath forest canopies. Furthermore, the effect of forest canopy may be changed by complex topography. In this paper, we measured and simulated the incoming longwave radiation to snow beneath forest at different canopy openness in the west Tianshan Mountains, China(43°16'N, 84°24'E) during spring 2013. A sensitivity study was conducted to explore the way that terrain influenced the incoming longwave radiation to snow beneath forest canopies. In the simulation model, measurement datasets, including air temperature, incoming shortwave radiation above canopy, and longwave radiation enhanced by adjacent terrain, were applied to calculate the incoming longwave radiation to snow beneath forest canopy. The simulation results were consistent with the measurements on hourly scale and daily scale. The effect of longwave radiation enhanced by terrain was important than that of shortwave radiation above forest canopy with different openness except the 20% canopy openness. The longwave radiation enhanced due to adjacent terrain increases with the slope increase and temperature rise. When air temperature(or slope) is relatively low, thelongwave radiation enhanced by adjacent terrain is not sensitive to slope(or air temperature), but the sensitivity increases with the decrease of snow cover area on sunny slope. The effect of longwave radiation is especially sensitive when the snow cover on sunny slope melts completely. The effect of incoming shortwave radiation reflected by adjacent terrain on incoming longwave radiation to snow beneath forest canopies is more slight than that of the enhanced longwave radiation.

Drought events influence nutrient canopy exchanges and green leaf partitioning during senescence in a deciduous forest

The increase in the frequency and intensity of drought events expected in the coming decades in Western Europe may disturb forest biogeochemical cycles and create nutrient deficiencies in trees.One possible origin of nutrient deficiency is the disturbance of the partitioning of the green leaf pool during the leaf senescence period between resorption,foliar leaching and senesced leaves.However,the effects of drought events on this partitioning and the consequences for the maintenance of tree nutrition are poorly documented.An experiment in a beech forest in Meuse(France)was conducted to assess the effect of drought events on nutrient canopy exchanges and on the partitioning of the green leaf pool during the leaf senescence period.The aim was to identify potential nutritional consequences of droughts for trees.Monitoring nutrient dynamics,including resorption,chemistry of green and senesced leaves,foliar absorption and leaching in mature beech stands from 2012 to 2019 allowed us to compare the nutrient exchanges for three nondry and three dry years(i.e.,with an intense drought event during the growing season).During dry years,we observed a decrease by almost a third of the potassium(K)partitioning to resorption(i.e.resorption efficiency),thus reducing the K reserve in trees for the next growing season.This result suggests that with the increased drought frequency and intensity expected for the coming decades,there will be a risk of potassium deficiency in trees,as already observed in a rainfall exclusion experiment on the same study site.Reduced foliar leaching and higher parititioning to the senesced leaves for K and phosphorus(P)were also observed.In addition,a slight increase in nitrogen(N)resorption efficiency occurred during dry years which is more likely to improve tree nutrition.The calcium(Ca)negative resorption decreased,with no apparent consequence in our study site.Our results show that nutrient exchanges in the canopy and the partitioning of the green leaf pool can be modified by drought events,and may have consequences on tree nutrition.

Scale dependence of forest fragmentation and its climate sensitivity in a semi-arid mountain:Comparing Landsat,Sentinel and Google Earth data

Landscape fragmentation is generally viewed as an indicator of environmental stresses or risks,but the fragmentation intensity assessment also depends on the scale of data and the definition of spatial unit.This study aimed to explore the scale-dependence of forest fragmentation intensity along a moisture gradient in Yinshan Mountain of North China,and to estimate environmental sensitivity of forest fragmentation in this semi-arid landscape.We developed an automatic classification algorithm using simple linear iterative clustering(SLIC)and Gaussian mixture model(GMM),and extracted tree canopy patches from Google Earth images(GEI),with an accuracy of 89.2%in the study area.Then we convert the tree canopy patches to forest category according to definition of forest that tree density greater than 10%,and compared it with forest categories from global land use datasets,FROM-GLC10 and GlobeLand30,with spatial resolutions of 10 m and 30 m,respectively.We found that the FROM-GLC10 and GlobeLand30 datasets underestimated the forest area in Yinshan Mountain by 16.88%and 21.06%,respectively;and the ratio of open forest(OF,10%<tree coverage<40%)to closed forest(CF,tree coverage>40%)areas in the underestimated part was 2:1.The underestimations concentrated in warmer and drier areas occupied mostly by large coverage of OFs with severely fragmented canopies.Fragmentation intensity of canopies positively correlated with spring temperature while negatively correlated with summer precipitation and terrain slope.When summer precipitation was less than 300 mm or spring temperature higher than 4℃,canopy fragmentation intensity rose drastically,while the forest area percentage kept stable.Our study suggested that the spatial configuration,e.g.,sparseness,is more sensitive to drought stress than area percentage.This highlights the importance of data resolution and proper fragmentation measurements for forest patterns and environmental interpretation,which is the base of reliable ecosystem predictions with regard to the future climate scenarios.

Influence of canopy on precipitation and its nutrient elements in broadleaved/Korean pine forest on the northern slope of Changbai Mountain

The precipitation distribution quantity of canopy in broadleaved/Korean pine forest was measured during the growing season (Jun.–Sept.) in 2001 in the Changbai Mountain, Jilin Province, P. R. China. Results indicated that the amounts of stemflow, throughfall, and interception were 37.39, 322.12 and 109.69 mm, accounting for 7.97%, 68.65% and 23.38% of the total rainfall, respectively. The rate of stemflow was higher in Jul. and Aug. than other months. The rate of throughfall dropped off from Jun. to Sept., however, rate of interception changed contrarily from 19.43% to 31.02% during the growing season. According to our analysis, the concentration of nutrient elements were arranged as Ca>Mg>N>K>Fe>P>Cu>Mn for rainfall, K>N>Mg>Ca>P>Fe>Mn>Cu for throughfall, and Mn>P>K>Cu>Fe>N>Mg>Ca for being leached through canopy. Nutrients concentration in stewflow and throughfall changed significantly when rainfall passed canopy, and concentration of all elements increased except for Ca and Mg.

Species diversity and regeneration of old-growth seasonally dry Shorea robusta forests following gap formation

Diversity and regeneration of woody species were investigated in two ecological niches viz. gap and intact vegetation in old-growth seasonally dry Shorea robusta （Gaertn. f.） forests in Nepal. We also related varieties of diversity measures and regeneration at- tributes to gap characteristics. Stem density of tree and shrub components is higher in the gap than in the intact vegetation. Seedling densities of S. robusta and Terminalia alata （B. Heyne ex Roth.） are higher in the gap than in the intact vegetation, while contrary result is observed for T. bellirica （Gaertn. ex Roxb.） and Syzigium cumini （L. Skeels） in term of seedling density. The complement of Simpson index, Evenness index, and species-individual ratio in the seedling layer are lower in the gap than the intact vegetation. Gap size can explain species richness and species establishment rate. Gaps created by multiple tree falls in different years have higher seedling density of S. robusta than gaps created by single and/or multiple tree falls in the same year. In conclusion, gaps maintain species diversity by increasing seedling density, and favor regeneration of Sal forests. In addition to gap size, other gap attributes also affect species diversity and regeneration.

Decomposition patterns of leaf litter of seven common canopy species in a subtropical forest： dynamics of mineral nutrients

Dynamical patterns of mineral elements during decomposition processes were investigated for seven common canopy species in a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest by means of litterbag technique over 2 years. The species studied are representative for the vegetation in the study area and differed significantly in chemical qualities of their litter. No significant relationships were found between decomposition rate （percentage dry mass remaining and decomposition constant k） and initial element cuncentrations.However, there were significant correlations betweeu the percentage of dry mass remaining and the mineral element concentrations in the remaining litter for most cases. The rank of the element mobility in decomposition process was as follows： Na = K 〉 Mg ≥ Ca 〉 N ≥ Mn ≥ Zn ≥ P 〉 Cu 〉〉 Al 〉〉 Fe. Concentrations of K and Na decreased in all species as decomposition proceeded. Calcium and Mg also decreased in concentrntion but with a temporal increase in the initial phase of decomposition, while the concentrations of other elements （Zn, Cu, AL and Fei increased for all species with exception of Mn which revealed a different pattern in different species. In most species, microelements （Cu, Al, and Fe） significantly increased in absolute amounts at the end of the litterbag incubation, which could be ascribed to a lange extent to the mechanism of abiotic fixation to humic substances rather than biological immobilization.

Natural regeneration characteristics of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica forests on sandy land in Honghuaerji, China

Natural regeneration in Mongolian pine, Pinus sylvesttis var. mongolica, forest at Honghuaerji of China （the original of the natural Mongolian pine, forest on sandy land） was studied in 2004. The total mean values of regeneration indexes were higher in mature stands （more than 80% individual stems were older than 50 years）, the maximum of regeneration index reached 29 seedlings, m^ 2, with lowest values in the younger stand, e.g., in 32-year old and 43-year old stands. The stand age was an important factor determining the natural regeneration, which was the best in the older stands in this investigation （e.g. about 80-year old）. The regeneration index seemed not to be closely in relation to canopy openness although Mongolian pine is a photophilic tree species. In each type of gaps, natural regeneration was very well. Regeneration indexes were satisfactory at the south and east edges in the circle gaps; and at the east edge of the narrow-square gaps. Results indicated that Mongolian pine, seedlings could endure shading understory, but it would not enter the canopy layer without gap or large disturbance, e.g., fire, wind/snow damage or clear cutting etc. These results may provide potentially references to the management and afforestation of Mongolian pine, plantations on sandy land in arid and semi-arid areas. Researches such as the comprehensive comparisons on regeneration, structure and ecological conditions and so on between natural Mongolian pine, forests and plantations should be conducted in the future.

Does tree species composition control the soil carbon stocks of the Hyrcanian forest in the Northern Iran?(A case study in Guilan province,Iran)

This work studied the effects of tree species composition on soil carbon storage in five mixed stands dominated by oriental beech and grown in the western Caspian region in Guilan province, called Astara, Asalem, Fuman, Chere and Shenrud. The thickness of the litter layer, soil characteristics, tree composition and percentage of canopy coverage were measured in each stand. Total soil organic carbon differed significantly by stand. Total （organic） carbon stores at Fuman, which had the lowest tree species richness with 2 species and least canopy coverage （75%）, were significantly （p〈0.05） higher than at other locations. Carbon stor-age in topsoil （0-10 cm） was significantly lower in Shenrud, which had the highest tree species richness with 5 species and highest canopy cov-erage （95%）. The high percentage of canopy coverage in Shenrud proba-bly limited the conversion of litter to humus. However, in the second soil layer （10-25 cm）, Asalem, with high tree species richness and canopy coverage, had the highest carbon storage. This can be explained by the different rooting patterns of different tree species. In the Hyrcanian forest. According to the results, it can be concluded that not only tree composi-tion but also canopy coverage percentage should be taken under consid-eration to manage soil carbon retention and release.

Factorial analysis on forest canopy density restoration in the burned area of northern Great Xing＇an Mountains, China

The restoration of forest landscape has drawn much attention since thecatastrophic fire took place on the northern slope of Great Xing'an Mountains in 1987. Forest canopydensity, which has close relation to forest productivity, was selected as a key factor to find howmuch the forest quality was changed 13 years after fire, and how fire severity, regeneration way andterrain factors influenced the restoration of forest canopy density, based on forest inventory datain China, and using Kendall Bivariate Correlation Analysis, and Distances Correlation Analysis. Theresults showed that fire severity which was inversely correlated with forest canopy density gradewas an initial factor among all that selected. Regeneration way which did not remarkably affectforest canopy density restoration in short period, may shorten the cycle of forest succession andpromote the forest productivity of conophorium in the future. Among the three terrain factors, theeffect of slope was the strongest, the position on slope was the second and the aspect was the last.

Effects of single-tree selection harvesting on hymenopteran and saproxylic insect assemblages in the canopy and understory of northern temperate forests

Insects respond to changes in microhabitat caused by canopy disturbance, and thus can be used to examine the ecological impacts of harvesting. Single-tree selection harvesting is the most common silvicultural system used to emulate local small-scale natural disturbance and maintain uneven-aged forest structure in temperate forests. Here, we test for differences in richness, abundance, and composition of hymenopteran and saproxylic insect assemblages at four different taxon levels （selected insect orders; and all hymenopteran families, and braconid subfamilies and morphospecies） between the canopy and understory of unharvested and single-tree selection harvested sites in a northern temperate forest from central Canada. Harvesting had no effect on insect assemblage richness, composition or abundance at the three highest taxon levels （order, family and subfamily）. Similarly, richness and abundance at the lowest-taxon level （braconid morphospecies） were similar, although composition differed slightly between unharvested and harvested stands. Insect assemblages were vertically stratified, with generally higher abundance （for Diptera, Hymenoptera, some hymenopteran families and braconid subfamilies） and richness （for braconid morphospecies） in the understory than the canopy. In particular, composition of the braconid morphospecies assemblage showed relatively low similarity between the understory and canopy. Single-tree selection harvesting appears to influence wood-associated insect taxa only subtly through small changes in community composition at the lowest taxon level, and thus is recommended as a conservative approach for managing these northern temperate forests.

Spatial-temporal variability of throughfall in a subtropical deciduous forest from the hilly regions of eastern China

Throughfall variability plays a crucial role in regulating hydrological and biogeochemical processes in forest ecosystems. However, throughfall variability and its potential influencing factors remain unclear in the subtropical deciduous forest because of its complex canopy and meteorological conditions. Here, the spatial variability and temporal stability of throughfall were investigated from October 2016 to December 2017 within a deciduous forest in the subtropical hilly regions of eastern China, and the effects of meteorological variables and distance from nearest tree trunk on throughfall variability were systematically evaluated. Throughfall variability during the leafed period was slightly higher than that during the leafless period inferred from the coefficient of variation of throughfall amounts(CVTF), with 13.2%-40.9% and 18.7%-31.9%, respectively. The multiple regression model analysis suggested that the controlling factors of throughfall variability were different in studied periods: Maximum 10-min rainfall intensity, wind speed and air temperature were the dominant influencing factors on throughfall variability during the leafed period, with the relative contribution ratio(RCR) of 25.9%, 18.7% and 8.9%, respectively. By contrast, throughfall variability was affected mainly by the mean rainfall intensity(RCR=40.8%) during the leafless period. The temporal stability plots and geostatistical analysis indicated that spatial patterns of throughfall were stable and similar among rainfall events. Our findings highlight the important role of various meteorological factors in throughfall variability and are expected to contribute to the accurate assessment of throughfall, soil water and runoff within the subtropical forests.

Forest height mapping using inventory and multi-source satellite data over Hunan Province in southern China

Background:Accurate mapping of forest canopy heights at a fine spatial resolution over large geographical areas is challenging.It is essential for the estimation of forest aboveground biomass and the evaluation of forest ecosystems.Yet current regional to national scale forest height maps were mainly produced at coarse-scale.Such maps lack spatial details for decision-making at local scales.Recent advances in remote sensing provide great opportunities to fill this gap.Method:In this study,we evaluated the utility of multi-source satellite data for mapping forest heights over Hunan Province in China.A total of 523 plot data collected from 2017 to 2018 were utilized for calibration and validation of forest height models.Specifically,the relationships between three types of in-situ measured tree heights(maximum-,averaged-,and basal area-weighted-tree heights)and plot-level remote sensing metrics(multispectral,radar,and topo variables from Landsat,Sentinel-1/PALSAR-2,and SRTM)were analyzed.Three types of models(multilinear regression,random forest,and support vector regression)were evaluated.Feature variables were selected by two types of variable selection approaches(stepwise regression and random forest).Model parameters and model performances for different models were tuned and evaluated via a 10-fold cross-validation approach.Then,tuned models were applied to generate wall-to-wall forest height maps for Hunan Province.Results:The best estimation of plot-level tree heights(R2 ranged from 0.47 to 0.52,RMSE ranged from 3.8 to 5.3 m,and rRMSE ranged from 28%to 31%)was achieved using the random forest model.A comparison with existing forest height maps showed similar estimates of mean height,however,the ranges varied under different definitions of forest and types of tree height.Conclusions:Primary results indicate that there are small biases in estimated heights at the province scale.This study provides a framework toward establishing regional to national scale maps of vertical forest structure.

An environmental gradient change of Picea mongolica seedling from the center of a forest canopy gap in forest-steppe ecotone in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China

In sandy forest with a forest canopy gap for a period of over 30 years, the spruce（Picea mongolica） seedlings were monitored on two 5-m- wide transects from the center of a large gap into the surrounding forest. The farther they were to the far center, the taller grew the seedling and the more is the number of seedling. There were many seedlings under the canopy but almost all seedlings died before they grow up. Along the forest edge, growth of seedlings was temporarily enhanced by lateral penetration of light from the gap. The implications for natural forest regeneration dynamics are discussed. Our results prove that in P mongolica forest a gap disturbance creates a non-uniform environment for regeneration of the species, and determines that the forest was a non-even aged forest.

Species diversity, regeneration and dominance as influenced by canopy gaps and their characteristics in tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India

Canopy gaps play a significant role in maintaining structure and composition of tropical forests. This study was carried out in tropical evergreen forests of central Western Ghats in India to understand the influence of canopy gap size and the relationship of gap regime attributes to diversity measures and regeneration. The average gap size in the study area was found to be 396 m2 and around half of gaps were 4–8 years old. Gaps created by natural single tree fall were smaller in size but significantly higher in number. Diversity and regeneration of woody species were compared with canopy gaps and intact vegetation. Species richness and diversity was higher in gaps than in intact vegetation. Macaranga peltata, a shade intolerant species dominated gaps while intact vegetation was dominated by shade tolerant Kingiodendron pinnatum.Gap size significantly influenced species diversity and regeneration. Gap area and age were significantly and negatively correlated with diversity measures but positively correlated with regeneration. Among all the attributes of gaps, regeneration was significantly positively correlated with light intensity. Gaps maintained species diversity and favored regeneration of woody species. In addition to gap size and age, other gap ecological attributes also affected species diversity and regeneration.

Variation in photosynthetic photon flux density within a tropical seasonal rain forest of Xishuangbanna, south-western China

The effects of canopy development, solar angle, and weather conditions on temporal variation in photosynthetic photon flux density（PPFD） at three heights within a tropical rain forest canopy in Xishuangbanna, China, were examined. PPFD was measured every second and stored as 10-min averages from 1 December 2002 to 30 November 2003. PPFD variability was examined at three different temporal scales. Specific days in March, September, and December with clear and overcast sky conditions were selected to separate the effects of leaf area index（LAI） and solar angle on diurnal variability. On both clear and overcast days, mean daily average PPFD was significantly different between March and September at all heights, except 10 m on clear days, suggesting that LAI directly influences PPFD. In contrast, the differences in daily average PPFD among three heights between September and December were likely due to variation in solar angle. In addition, daily average PPFD at all locations were significantly lower under overcast than clear sky conditions in March, September and December. Over the year-long study, the mean daily total PPFD at 2! m, 10 m and 4 m was 2.8, 2.7 and 0.7 mol/（m^2·d）, which accounted for 9.7%, 9.4% and 2.4% of the daily PPFD above the canopy, respectively. Significant differences in mean daily total PPFD occurred at the same heights among different seasons, and diurnal, day-to-day and seasonal PPFD varied at different heights within the canopy. The possible effects of light variability on physiological and morphological responses of plants are discussed.

Influence of voxel size on forest canopy height estimates using full-waveform airborne LiDAR data

Background: Forest canopy height is a key forest structure parameter. Precisely estimating forest canopy height is vital to improve forest management and ecological modelling. Compared with discrete-return LiDAR(Light Detection and Ranging), small-footprint full-waveform airborne LiDAR(FWL) techniques have the capability to acquire precise forest structural information. This research mainly focused on the influence of voxel size on forest canopy height estimates.Methods: A range of voxel sizes(from 10.0 m to 40.0 m interval of 2 m) were tested to obtain estimation accuracies of forest canopy height with different voxel sizes. In this study, all the waveforms within a voxel size were aggregated into a voxel-based LiDAR waveform, and a range of waveform metrics were calculated using the voxelbased LiDAR waveforms. Then, we established estimation model of forest canopy height using the voxel-based waveform metrics through Random Forest(RF) regression method.Results and conclusions: The results showed the voxel-based method could reliably estimate forest canopy height using FWL data. In addition, the voxel sizes had an important influence on the estimation accuracies(R2 ranged from 0.625 to 0.832) of forest canopy height. However, the R2 values did not monotonically increase or decrease with the increase of voxel size in this study. The best estimation accuracy produced when the voxel size was 18 m(R2= 0.832, RMSE = 2.57 m, RMSE% = 20.6%). Compared with the lowest estimation accuracy, the R2 value had a significant improvement(33.1%) when using the optimal voxel size. Finally, through the optimal voxel size, we produced the forest canopy height distribution map for this study area using RF regression model. Our findings demonstrate that the optimal voxel size need to be determined for improving estimation accuracy of forest parameter using small-footprint FWL data.

A new sampling method in the Zagros forests using GIS(case study: Ilam forests of Iran)

One of the basic parameters in forest management planning is detailed knowledge of growing stock,information collected by forest inventory.Sampling methods must be accurate,inexpensive,and be easy to implement in the field.This study presents a new sampling method called branching transect for use in the Iranian Zagros forests and similar forests.Features of the new method include greater accuracy,easy implementation in nature,simplicity of statistical calculations,and low cost.In this method,transect is used,which includes some subtransects(side branches).The length of the main transect,side branches,number of trees measured in each side branch,and the number of sub-branches in this method are changeable based on homogeneity,heterogeneity,and density of a forest.In this study,based on the density and heterogeneity of the forest area studied,20-m transects with four and eight side branches were used.Sampling plots(Transects)in four inventory networks(100 m×100 m,100 m×150 m,150 m×150 m and 100 m×200 m)were implemented in the GIS environment.The results of this sampling method were compared to the results of total inventory(100%count)in terms of accuracy,precision(t-test),and inventory error percentage.Branching transect results were statistially similar to total inventory counts in all cases.The results show that this method of estimating density and canopy per hectare can be used in Zagros forests and similar forests.

Diversity and production in an Afromontane Forest

Background：This contribution evaluates the effect of forest structure and tree species diversity on plot productivity and individual tree growth in the unique Knysna forests in Southern Africa using mapped tree data from an observational study that has been re-measured over a period of 40 years.Methods：The effects of tree species diversity and forest structure on tree growth and forest production are evaluated on three levels of resolution：a） the forest community（canopy,sub-canopy species）,b） the subplots（number of trees per ha,skewness of the diameter distribution,diameter coefficient of variation） and c） the immediate neighborhood of selected reference trees（＂Mingling＂,＂Dominance＂,Aggregation＂ and ＂Size Variation＂）.Results：An analysis of the community level identified two distinct clusters,one including dominant/canopy species with the highest growth rates and a greater variation of growth,and another cluster which includes the remaining subcanopy species which have a smaller maximum size and lower rates of growth.The area-based structure variables on plot level have a highly significant effect on total basal area growth.However,the effects of forest density and species richness on productivity were not straight forward.Maximum basal area production of about 0.75 m^2/ha/year is achieved at medium levels of richness（around 20 species per ha） and medium levels of density（around 30 m^2/ha basal area） using percentile regression estimates.The relative ＂Dominance＂ of a selected reference tree had a highly significant effect on individual tree growth on all investigated species.Other neighbourhood structure variables were only occasionally significant or not significant at all.Conclusion：This contribution presents a new theoretical framework for analysing natural forests that includes community,plot and neighborhood variables of forest structure and diversity,and a first specific analysis of the structure and dynamics of the Knysna Afromontane Forest,based on a unique set of longterm observations.The species-area（SAR） model developed in this study,represents a new general approach that can be used to derive a common standard of tree species diversity for different plot sizes,the species richness per hectare.

Environmental and canopy conditions regulate the forest floor evapotranspiration of larch plantations

Background:Integrated forest-water management focusing on forest-water coordination is an important way to alleviate water use conflicts among forests and other sectors in vast dryland regions.Forest floor evapotranspiration(FE),which is an important component of forest evapotranspiration,accounts for a large proportion of the water consumed in arid forests.Elucidating how environmental and canopy conditions impact FE has important significance for guiding integrated forest-water management in a changing environment.Methods:The microlysimeter(ML)-measured evapotranspiration(FE_(ML)),reference evapotranspiration(ET_(o)),volumetric soil moisture(VSM),and canopy leaf area index(LAI)were monitored in a Larix principis-rupprechtii plantation located in the semi-humid Liupan Mountains of Northwest China in 2019(June–September)and 2021(May–September).The response functions of the FE coefficient(the ratio of daily FEML to ET_(o))to the individual factors of VSM and LAI were determined using upper boundary lines of scatter diagrams of measured data.The framework of the daily FE(FE_(ML))model was established by multiplying the response functions to individual factors and then calibrated and validated using measured data to assess the FE response to environmental and canopy conditions.Results:(1)The FE coefficient increased first rapidly and then slowly with rising VSM but decreased slowly with rising LAI.(2)The simple daily FE(FE_(ML))model developed by coupling the impacts of ET_(o),LAI,and VSM in this study performed well for predicting FE.(3)The impacts of ET_(o),LAI,and VSM were quantified using the FE(FE_(ML))model,e.g.,at a given VSM,the impact of ETo on FE increased obviously with decreasing LAI;at a given ET_(o),the impact of LAI on FE increased with rising VSM.(4)In the two study years,when directly using the microlysimeter measurement,the real FE on the forest floor was overestimated when the VSM in microlysimeters was above 0.215 but underestimated below 0.215 due to the difference in VSM from the forest floor.Thus,the VSM on the forest floor should be input into the FE model for estimating the real FE on the forest floor.Conclusions:The daily FE of larch plantation is controlled by three main factors of environmental(ET_(o) and VSM)and canopy conditions(LAI).The variation in daily FE on the forest floor can be well estimated using the simple FE model coupling the effects of the three main factors and by inputting the VSM on the forest floor into the model to avoid the errors when directly using the microlysimeter measurement with different VSMs from the forest floor.The developed FE model and suggested prediction approach are helpful to estimate the FE response to changing conditions,and to guide forest management practices when saving water by thinning is required.

Influence of ginseng cultivation under larch plantations on plant diversity and soil properties in Liaoning Province,Northeast China

Currently, transforming the mode of forest management and developing multiple forest management practices are actively encouraged in China. As one forest management type, ginseng cultivation under larch plantations has been developed significantly in the east of Liaoning Province. However, research on the influence of the ecological environment for this mode of production is still deficient. Based on this, our study compares the plant diversity and soil properties in the ginseng cultivation under larch plantations(LG) with larch plantations(LP) and natural secondary forests(SF). First, we randomly selected three plots for each of the three stand types which have similar stand characteristics; then, we carried out a plant diversity survey and soil sampling in each of the nine plots. The results show that no significant difference was found in plant diversity between LG and LP, but theevenness of herbs was significantly lower in LG than LP. No obvious changes in soil physical properties were found in LG, but a significant decrease in most of the soil nutrient content was presented in LG. Furthermore, we found a correlation between plant diversity(H') and soil properties in the three kinds of stand types, especially between herbaceous plant diversity and soil properties. We conclude that ginseng cultivation under larch plantations has no obvious effect on plant diversity, except the herbaceous evenness. Soil fertility can be depleted significantly in LG, but physical structures are not affected. Moreover, maintaining the diversity of herbaceous plants and controlling the density of ginseng cultivation in LG by farmers are important for the ecological environment. Based on this study and its good comprehensive benefits and with the support of policy, we think this forest management type should be promoted moderately in the region.