Coarse woody debris features of a warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest, northern China
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Coarse woody debris features of a warm temperate deciduous broad‑leaved forest, northern China Fang Ma1 · Liwen Zhuang2 · Shunzhong Wang3 · Weiguo Sang1,3
Received: 23 September 2019 / Accepted: 1 December 2019 © Northeast Forestry University 2020
Abstract Stocking and structural composition of a deciduous broad-leaved forest were determined to predict coarse woody debris quantity by quantifying the empirical relationships between these two attributes. The most ecologically significant families by stem density were Salicaceae, Betulaceae, Fagaceae, and Aceraceae. Populus davidiana was the most dominant species followed by Betula dahurica, Quercus mongolica, and Acer mono. The four species accounted for 69.5% of total stems. Numerous small-diameter species characterized the coarse woody debris showing a reversed J-shaped distribution. The coarse debris of P. davidiana, B. dahurica, and Q. mongolica mainly comprised the 10–20 cm size class, whereas A. mono debris was mainly in the 5–10 cm size class. The spatial patterns of different size classes of coarse woody debris were analyzed using
Project funding: This study is supported by The National Science Foundation of China (31770567, 31570630). The online version is available at https://www.springerlink.com Corresponding editor: Yu Lei * Liwen Zhuang [email protected] * Weiguo Sang [email protected] 1
Minzu University of China, No. 27, Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China
2
Heilongjiang Academy of Forestry Science, No 134 Haping Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150081, People’s Republic of China
3
Key Lab of Environment and Vegetation Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 20 Xiangshan Nanxincun, Haidian District, Beijing 100093, People’s Republic of China
the g-function to determine the size of the tree at its death. The results indicate that the spatial patterns at the 0–50 m scale shifted gradually from an aggregated to a random pattern. For some species, the larger coarse debris might change from an aggregated to a random distribution more easily. Given the importance of coarse woody debris in forest ecosystems, its composition and patterns can improve understanding of community structure and dynamics. The aggregation pattern might be due to density dependence and self-thinning effects, as well as by succession and mortality. The four dominant species across the different size classes showed distinct aggregated distribution features at different spatial scales. This suggests a correlation between the dominant species population, size class, and aggregated distribution of coarse woody debris. Keywords Tree mortality · Diversity · Size class · Forest dynamic plot
Introduction Tree mortality is an important ecological process (Bin et al. 2011) and results in coarse woody debris (CWD) in various stages of decomposition, including fresh and rotting logs, snags, stumps, and large branches. Information on CWD can illustrate structural and functional components of forest ec
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