Dendroclimatological study of Sabina saltuaria and Abies faxoniana in the mixed forests of the Qionglai Mountains,eastern Tibetan Plateau

Tree-ring chronologies were developed for Sabina saltuaria and Abies faxoniana in mixed forests in the Qionglai Mountains of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.Climate-growth relationship analysis indicated that the two co-exist-ing species reponded similarly to climate factors,although S.saltuaria was more sensitive than A.faxoniana.The strong-est correlation was between S.saltuaria chronology and regional mean temperatures from June to November.Based on this relationship,a regional mean temperature from June to November for the period 1605-2016 was constructed.Reconstruction explained 37.3%of the temperature variance during th period 1961-2016.Six major warm periods and five major cold periods were identified.Spectral analysis detected significant interannual and multi-decadal cycles.Reconstruction also revealed the influence of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation,confirming its importance on climate change on the eastern Tibetan Plateau.

An agent-based model of agricultural land expansion in the mountain forest of Timor Island,Indonesia

The Mutis-Timau Forest Complex,located on Timor Island,Indonesia,is a mountainous tropical forest area that gradually decreases due to deforestation and forest degradation.Previous modelling studies based on patterns indicate that deforestation primarily occurs at lower elevations and near the boundaries of forests and settlements,often associated with shifting cultivation by local farmers.This study adopts a process-based modelling approach,specifically the agent-based model,to simulate land changes,particularly farmers'expansion of agricultural land around the Mutis mountain forest.The underlying concept of this agent-based approach is the interaction between the human and environmental systems.Farmers,representing the human system,interact with the land,which represents the environmental system,through land use decision-making mechanisms.The research was conducted in the Community Forest of the Timor Tengah Utara District,one of the sites within the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex with the highest deforestation rate.Land use change simulations were performed using agent-based modelling from 1999 to 2030,considering the socio-economic conditions of farmers,spatial preferences,land use decisions,and natural transitions.The results revealed that the agricultural area increased by 14%under the Business as Usual scenario and 5%under the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scenario,compared to the initial agricultural area of 245 hectares.The probability of farmers deciding to extend agricultural activities was positively associated with the number of livestock maintained by farmers and the size of the village area.Conversely,the likelihood of farmers opting for agricultural extensification decreased with an increase in the area of private land and the farmer's age.These findings are crucial for the managers of the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex and other relevant stakeholders,as they aid in arranging actions to combat deforestation,designing proper forest-related policies,and providing support for initiatives such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation programs or further incentive schemes.

Evaluating the role of fire over a decade in a tropical mountainous forestgrassland mosaic

Forest-grassland mosaics comprise a major component of tropical landscapes,hosting invaluable biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.While open biomes often benefit from disturbance,forests can particularly be susceptible to structural changes resulting from such disruptions.Here we evaluate the influence of fire on the structure and landscape properties within natural forest islands immersed in a matrix of megadiverse montane grasslands.We conducted this study in 15 forest islands located in southeastern Brazil,assessing its fire frequency,intensity,and post-fire time over an eleven-year period from January 2012 to December 2022.Our results show that fire frequency is linked to soil characteristics and the percentage of herbaceous cover within the forest islands.We also found that the post-fire time is related to the percentage cover of the forest islands’associated herbs and shrubs.However,neither fire frequency,intensity,nor post-fire time was connected to significant changes in plant species richness,abundance,or in the upper vegetation strata(tree species richness and abundance,and canopy cover)in the interior of the forest islands.Furthermore,these fire-related variables did not result in temporal changes in the forest island’s canopy variation or landscape metrics.Our results underscore a low fire frequency and intensity within our study area,potentially explaining the limited fire-associated impact,and primarily on the lower vegetation strata.Despite acknowledging the relative stability of these forest islands under current fire regimes,we suggest further studies that can experimentally manipulate not only fire but also other anthropic disturbances for understanding the temporal dynamics of the forest islands and,consequently,their preservation.This perspective is indispensable for comprehensively understanding the ecological consequences of anthropogenic disturbances in natural forest islands.

Effect of thinning intensity on the carbon sequestration of natural mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests in Xiaoxing'an Mountains, China

To study the effect of thinning intensity on the carbon sequestration by natural mixed coniferous and broad-leaf forests in Xiaoxing’an Mountains,China,we established six 100 m×100 m experimental plots in Dongfanghong For-est that varied in thinning intensity:plot A(10%),B(15%),C(20%),D(25%),E(30%),F(35%),and the control sample area(0%).A principal component analysis was performed using 50 different variables,including species diversity,soil fertility,litter characteristics,canopy structure param-eters,and seedling regeneration parameters.The effects of thinning intensity on carbon sequestration were strongest in plot E(0.75),followed by D(0.63),F(0.50),C(0.48),B(0.22),A(0.11),and the control(0.06).The composite score of plot E was the highest,indicating that the carbon sequestration effect was strongest at a thinning intensity of 30%.These findings provide useful insights that could aid the management of natural mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests in Xiaoxing’an Mountains,China.This information has implications for future studies of these forests,and the methods used could aid future ecological assessments of the natural forests in Xiaoxing’an Mountains,China.

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.

Future Development Direction of the Restoration of Mountains,Rivers,Forests,Farmlands,Lakes,and Grasslands and the Faced Problems

In this paper,the definition,connotation,and internal relationship of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes,and grasslands in China are elaborated,and the current situation of ecological restoration projects for mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes,and grasslands was introduced.Moreover,the problems that have arisen in the specific implementation process of pilot projects were analyzed,such as unclear target positioning,inaccurate analysis of ecological problems,insufficient engineering design systematicness,weak operability of evaluation standards,and weak coordination in engineering management.The development direction and major needs for the protection and restoration of mountains,rivers,forests,farmlands,lakes,and grasslands in the future have been proposed from four aspects:theoretical research,engineering design,effect evaluation,and monitoring and supervision.

Effects of soil temperature and soil water content on soil respiration in three forest types in Changbai Mountain

Soil incubation experiments were conducted in lab to delineate the effect of soil temperature and soil water content on soil respirations in broad-leaved/Korean pine forest (mountain dark brown forest soil), dark coniferous forest (mountain brown coniferous forest soil) and erman's birch forest (mountain soddy forest soil) in Changbai Mountain in September 2001. The soil water content was adjusted to five different levels (9%, 21%, 30%, and 43%) by adding certain amount of water into the soil cylinders, and the soil sample was incubated at 0, 5, 15, 25 and 35°C for 24 h. The results indicated that in broad-leaved/Korean pine forest the soil respiration rate was positively correlated to soil temperature from 0 to 35°C. Soil respiration rate increased with increase of soil water content within the limits of 21% to 37%, while it decreased with soil water content when water content was over the range. The result suggested the interactive effects of temperature and water content on soil respiration. There were significant differences in soil respiration among the various forest types. The soil respiration rate was highest in broad-leaved/Korean pine forest, middle in erman's birch forest and the lowest in dark coniferous forest. The optimal soil temperature and soil water content for soil respiration was 35°C and 37% in broad-leaved/Korean pine forest, 25°C and 21% in dark coniferous forest, and 35°C and 37% in erman's birch forest. Because the forests of broad-leaved/Korean pine, dark coniferous and erman's birch are distributed at different altitudes, the soil temperature had 4–5°C variation in different forest types during the same period. Thus, the soil respiration rates measured in brown pine mountain soil were lower than those in dark brown forest and those measured in mountain grass forest soil were higher than those in brown pine mountain soil. Key words Soil temperature - Soil water content - Soil respiration - The typical forest ecosystem in Changbai Mountain CLC number S7118.51 Document code A Foundation item: This study was supported by grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30271068), the grant of the Knowledge Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZ-CX-SW-01-01B-12) and the grant from Advanced Programs of Institute of Applied Ecology Chinese Academy of Sciences.Biography: WANG Miao (1964-), male, associate professor in Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Science, Shenyang 110016, P. R. China.Responsible editor: Song Funan

Diversity of filamentous fungi in organic layers of two forests in Zijin Mountain

A study was conducted to evaluate the cultivable filamentous fungal diversity in organic layers (L, F, and H layers) and A1 layer of two main forest types, Pinus massoniana and Liguidambar formasana mixed forest and Quercus variabilis forest, in Zijin Mountain(325?N, 11848?E), Nanjing, China. A total of 67 taxa comprising 56 Deuteromycetes, 3 Zygomycetes, 5 Asco-mycetes and 3 unidentified fungi were recognized from samples from the forest floor of the two forest types. The most abundant group was Deuteromycetes. The dominant genera in both forests were Alternaria sp., Aspergillus sp., Cladosporium sp., Mucor sp., Penicillium sp., Rhizopus sp., Gliocladium sp. and Trichoderma spp. The fungal diversity was higher in the mixed forest than that in Q. variabilis forest. For both forest types, the maximum fungal diversity was found in layer F and there existed significantly different in fungal diversity between layer F and layer L. In the mixed forest, richness of fungi isolated from needle litter (P. massoniana) was lower than that from leaf litter (L. formasana). The richness of fungi from needle litter increased with the in-crease of forest floor depth, but for leaf litter, the fungal diversity decreased with the depth of forest floor. The co-species of fungi from the two forest types, as well as from two kinds of litters in mixed forest, increased with the depth of the forest floor. The succession of fungi along with the process of decomposition was discussed here. The results also showed that litter quality was a critical factor affecting fungal diversity.

Remote Sensing Monitoring of the Subalpine Coniferous Forests and Quantitative Analysis of the Characteristics of Succession in East Mountain Area of Tibetan Plateau——A Case Study With Zamtang County

The study area lies in the Dadu River drainage area in upstream Yangtze River.The spatial distribution of subalpine coniferous forests in 1989 and 2009 was extracted by means of a combined method of object orientation and visual interpretation,and then the overlaying analysis of these data was conducted.The type and spatial location of succession were discovered and served as the sample of dependant variable.Meanwhile,supported by GIS technology and based on DEM and thematic data,the eight variables including altitude,slope,sin and cosin of aspect,curvity of land surface,and distance to residential area,cultivated land and road were extracted served as the sample of spatial succession of subalpine coniferous forests to fit Logistic Regression,and then the contribution of each independent variable as well as the spatial property of the occurrence probability of succession was calculated.The results suggested that,during the succession of subalpine coniferous forests to meadow,the closer to the residential area and cultivated land,the greater the contribution to succession is.In particular,when the distance to the residential area decreases by one unit,the probability for its conversion to meadow will be increased by 1.15 times.During the succession of subalpine coniferous forests to deciduous-broadleaved shrubs,the sin of aspect and distance to residential area contribute more,and the probability of succession increases with increasing degree of northwardness,i.e.when the degree of northwardness increases by one unit,the probability will be increased by 1.2 times.The quantitative analysis of spatial succession property of subalpine coniferous forests will supply scientific basis to the protection and restoration of subalpine coniferous forests.

The features of soil aggregation and its eco-environmental effects under different subalpine forests on the east slope of Gongga Mountain, China

Structural properties of forest soils have important hydro-ecological function and can influence the soil water-physical characters and soil erosion. The experimental soil samples were obtained in surface horizon (0-10 cm) from different subalpine forest types on east slope of Gongga Mountain in the upriver area of Yangtze River China in May 2002. The soil bulk density, porosity, stable infiltration rate, aggregate distribution and particle-size distribution were analyzed by the routine methods in room, and the features and effects on eco-environment of soil aggregation were studied. The results showed that the structure of soil under mixed mature forest is in the best condition and can clearly enhance the eco-environmental function of soil, and the soil structure under the clear-cutting forest is the worst, the others are ranked between them. The study results can offer a basic guidance for the eco-environmental construction in the upper reaches of Yangtze River.

Soil carbon dioxide fluxes of a typical broad-leaved/Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountain, China

The forest ecosystem plays an important role in the global carbon cycling. A study was conducted to evaluate soil CO2 flux and its seasonal and diurnal variation with the air and soil temperatures by using static closed chamber technique in a typical broad-leaved/Korean pine mixed forest area on the northern slope of Changbai Mountain, Jilin Province, China. The experiment was carried out through the day and night in the growing season (from June to September) in situ and sample gas was analyzed by a gas chromatograph. Results showed that the forest floor was a large net source of carbon, and soil CO2 fluxes had an obvi-ous law of seasonal and diel variation. The soil CO2 flux of broad-leaved/Korean pine mixed forest was in the range of 0.302.42 mmol穖-2穝-1 with the mean value of 0.98 mmol穖-2穝-1. An examination on the seasonal pattern of soil CO2 emission suggested that the variability in soil CO2 flux could be correlated with variations in soil temperature, and the maximum of mean CO2 flux occurred in July ((1.27±23%) mmol穖-2穝-1) and the minimum was in September ((0.50±28%) mmol穖-2穝-1). The fluctuations in diel soil CO2 flux were also correlated with changes in soil temperature; however, there existed a factor for a time lag. Soil CO2 flux from the forest floor was strongly related to soil temperature and had the highest correlation with temperature at 6-cm depth of soil. Q10 values based on air temperature and soil temperature of different soil depths were at the ranges of 2.09–3.40.

Investigation of Macrofungi in Wula Mountain National Forest Park at Yinshan Mountains

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the fungi in Wula Mountain National Forest Park. [Method] More than 180 fungal specimens were collected from Wula Mountain National Forest Park from 2009 to 2012 for primarily studying the fungal species diversity. [Results] According to the classification system presented by Ainsworth et al. and with reference to the China catalogue of Macrofungi in species diversity catalogue of Fungi at Wula Mountain National Forest Park was written, involving in 80 species belonging to 43 genera, 22 families, 5 orders and 2 classes in the Basidiomycotina, and 6 species belonging to 2 genera, 2 families, 2 orders and2 classes in Ascomycotina, totally from 86 species, 45 genera, 7 orders, 24 families and 2 subdivisions. Among them, 49 species were edible and 22 species were medicinal, and 18 species were both edible and medicinal, and 7 species were poisonous, and 32 species were wood-rotting, and 5 species were mycorrhizal fungi,and 3 species were newly-recorded ones in Inner Mongolia. [Conclusion] There are still some specimens that have not been identified yet because of lack of literature,thus requiring further study for supplement.

Study on Mosuo's Sacred Natural Sites of Mountainous Forest and Protection of Biological Diversity in Yongning-Lugu Lake Area

With Mosuo's sacred natural sites of mountainous forest in Yongning-Lugu Lake area as the research subject,by using the method of ecology,the vegetation type in this area was initially identified.The control sample plot of the same vegetation type at similar altitude and in similar soil condition would be selected and compared with the sample plot in sacred natural sites at length,so as to quantitatively analyze the protection of biological diversity in the perspective of ecological system.It showed that under the circumstance of the damage of ecological environment,complete natural vertical pattern was preserved thanks to sacred natural sites of mountainous forest established by reason of traditional religion and culture.The results of research and quantitative analysis showed that compared with the control sample plot of the same vegetation type,sacred natural sites were high in biological diversity and the species composition of plant community in sacred natural sites was closer to that of primitive forest.The result of quantitative analysis also indicated that sacred natural sites played a remarkable role in protecting vegetation and this protective function became more remarkable if the altitude was higher.And human were reminded to pay close attention to the preservation and protection function of sacred natural sites to natural ecological system at high altitude.

Water holding effect of subalpine dark coniferous forest soil in Gongga Mountain, China

Because of the distinction of soil property and humus content, soil water content is not ideal to indicate whether it is suitable to the growth of plant. Mainly based on the PF-a numerical value denoting the water regime of soil and connected with the growth of plant, the study combined the moisture percentage of soil with PF to research in quantity the interrelation between the moisture percentage and PF in different succession phases of subalpine dark coniferous forest in Gongga Mountain. The results showed that: (1) In the same PF value, the moisture percentage in humus horizon increased gradually with the devel-opment of the succession of the dark coniferous forest; The moisture percentage of over-mature forest was the highest and>mature forest>half-mature forest>young growth forest; (2) With the increase of soil depth, the soil bulk density increased and the moisture percentage decreased, but the difference in the percentage of moisture was not notable in different succession phases. (3) In different succession series, the vegetation affected the soil water characteristics by increasing the soil organic matter, improving the soil construction, receding the soil bulk density and enhancing the soil porosity; (4) The humus horizon of the dark coniferous forest soil has the highest water holding capability in this region.

Detecting forest landscape boundary between Mountain Birch and evergreen coniferous forest in the northern slope of Changbai Mountain

Boundaries between different forest types in Changbai Mountain Eastern China are results from complex interactions between forest ecosystems, topography, and geomorphology. Detecting and quantifying the transitional zones are highly important since high environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity are often found within these zones. In this study, we used GIS and multivariate statistics techniques(PCA and MSWA) to analyze data from Landsat TM satellite imageries and quantitatively determined the positions and widths of the landscape boundary between mountain birch and evergreen coniferous forests in the northern slope of Changbai Mountain. The results showed that the widths of the landscape boundary ranges from 30—50m while using the MSWA or/and PC method. Such detected widths are consistent with field transect data that suggests a 50m transitional zone width. The results further suggest that TM data can be used in combination with GIS and statistical techniques in determining forest landscape boundaries; MSWA is more reliable than PCA, while PCA can also be used to determine the landscape boundary when transects are properly located.

Carbon storage of a subtropical forest ecosystem: a case study of the Jinggang Mountain National Nature Reserve in south-eastern China

The carbon cycle of forest ecosystems plays a key role in regulating CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Research on carbon storage estimation of forest ecosystems has become a major research topic. However, carbon budgets of subtropical forest ecosystems have received little attention. Reports of soil carbon storage and topographic heterogeneity of carbon storage are limited. This study focused on the Jinggang Mountain National Nature Reserve as an example of a mid-subtropical forest and evaluated soil and vegetation carbon storage by field sampling combined with GIS, RS and GPS technology. We classified the forest into nine forest types using ALOS high-resolution remote sensing images. The evergreen broad-leaved forest has the largest area, occupying 26.5% of the total area, followed by coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests and warm temperate coniferous forest, occupying 24.2 and 22.9%, respectively. The vegetation and soil carbon storage of the whole forest ecosystem were 1,692,344 and 5,514,707 t, with a carbon density of 7.4 and 24.2 kg/m^2, respectively, which suggests that the ecosystem has great carbon storage capacity. The topographic heterogeneity of the carbon storage was also analysed. The largest vegetation storage and soil storage is at 700–800 and 1000–1100 m, respectively. The vegetation carbon storage is highest in the southeast, south and southwest.

Succession Features and Dynamic Simulation of Subalpine Forest in the Gongga Mountain, China

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.

Recreational potential as an indicator of accessibility control in protected mountain forest areas

The article presents research findings related to recreational use of forests located in protected mountainous areas with forestage of over 80%. The study was designed to identify recreational potential of the Carpathian national parks （Bieszczady National Park, Bahia G6ra National Park, Goree National Park and Magura National Park; southern Poland） and to compare these findings with the actual number of visitors. The information received on the recreational potential of parks is important from the point of view of protection of natural resources and the financial situation of the parks. The calculated ratio may be an effective tool of management for park administration, that allows to reconcile statutory social and protective functions of national parks. The study determined the recreational potential of the forests with the use of recreational valorisation method designed for areas with varied terrain, and the evaluated factors included the stands of trees with their habitat and land relief. The permissible number of national park visitors, expressed as man- hour/ha/year ranges from 19.31 in Bieszczady National Park （BG： 19~ 35＇ E, 49~ 35＇ N） to 32.06 in in Bieszczady National Park （B： 22~ 40＇ E, 49~ lo＇ N）. In 3 out of 4 investigated parks, Magura National Park （M： 21025＇ E, 49~ 30＇ N）, Gorce National Park （G： 20~ lo＇ E, 49~ 35＇ N）, B） recreation carrying capacity was not exceeded, whether or not the strictly protected area is taken into account. Only in BG was the recreation carrying capacity exceeded by nearly 24%, or by 85% if the strictly protected area isexcluded from tourism-related exploitation. The presented procedure for monitoring access to mountain forests in national parks, from the viewpoint of natural resources conservation, can be applied in other mountainous areas covered with forests and exposed to tourist and recreational traffic, and in forests facing particular risk of recreational damage, e.g. in urban and suburban forests growing in areas with varied orography.

Modeling habitat suitability of range plant species using random forest method in arid mountainous rangelands

Mountainous rangelands play a pivotal role in providing forage resources for livestock, particularly in summer, and maintaining ecological balance. This study aimed to identify environmental variables affecting range plant species distribution, ecological analysis of the relationship between these variables and the distribution of plants, and to model and map the plant habitats suitability by the Random Forest Method(RFM) in rangelands of the Taftan Mountain, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran. In order to determine the environmental variables and estimate the potential distribution of plant species, the presence points of plants were recorded by using systematic random sampling method(90 points of presence) and soils were sampled in 5 habitats by random method in 0–30 and 30–60 cm depths. The layers of environmental variables were prepared using the Kriging interpolation method and Geographic Information System facilities. The distribution of the plant habitats was finally modelled and mapped by the RFM. Continuous maps of the habitat suitability were converted to binary maps using Youden Index(?) in order to evaluate the accuracy of the RFM in estimation of the distribution of species potentialhabitat. Based on the values of the area under curve(AUC) statistics, accuracy of predictive models of all habitats was in good level. Investigating the agreement between the predicted map, generated by each model, and actual maps, generated from fieldmeasured data, of the plant habitats, was at a high level for all habitats, except for Amygdalus scoparia habitat. This study concluded that the RFM is a robust model to analyze the relationships between the distribution of plant species and environmental variables as well as to prepare potential distribution maps of plant habitats that are of higher priority for conservation on the local scale in arid mountainous rangelands.

Effects of Forest Roads on Habitat Pattern for Sables in Da Hinggan Mountains, Northeasten China

The anthropogenic managements of forest have created a network of roads resulting in the loss and alternation of habitat. To better understand road′s impact on animal habitats, we assessed the habitat pattern of sables(Martes zibellina), one of rodents within national first-class protected species, when roads are considered in Huzhong area in Da Hinggan Mountains, northeastern China. Employing published literatures about behavior ecology, aerial photographs and forest stand maps, we classified the study area into three habitat types including best-suitable, suitable and unsuitable habitats based on sable habitat requirements at the landscape scale including four variables derived from forest source map with attribute database. Results indicated the loss and significant fragmentation of best-suitable habitat and home range habitat when roads, especially 150 m avoidance distance of roads, were considered. The roads reduced and fragmented highly suitable habitats more significantly during earlier development period than the later development period. Additionally, the suitable area percentage increased with increasing distance to roads. This study helped to identify the suitable area for sables and location of sable population. Also, this study suggested the passage construction and road management involving road closure and removal will reduce the fragmentation functionally and benefit the sable population.