Characteristics of Larch Forests in Daxingan Mountains, Northeast China

Abstract

Daxingan Mountains are located in cold temperature region of northeast China, and are oriented from northeast to southwest direction. This area of China encompasses the southernmost distribution of continuous permafrost that extends from the Arctic region of Eurasia (see Fig. 1.1). The vegetation type is classified as deciduous conifer forest dominated by Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr. The major species accompanying L. gmelinii are Betula platyphylla Suk. and Populus davidiana Dode. These forests are extension of the larch forests of Central and Northeastern Siberia (Fukuda 1996; Kasischke and Stocks 2000). The climate in the region of Daxingan Mountains is more moderate than that of Northeastern Siberia. Therefore, the forest biomass and productivity are also higher than those of the Siberian counterpart. The climate differs among southern, middle, and northern regions within the Daxingan Mountains. It leads to regional-scale growth differences in the larch forests. For example, biomass and net primary productivity of L. gmelinii forests of ca. 30-year old in the southern region are 43.6 Mg ha−1 and 3.94 Mg ha−1 year−1 higher than those in the northern region (Zhou 1991; Shi 1999). The biomass and net primary productivity of L. gmelinii forests of ca. 50-year old in the middle region are 6 Mg ha−1 and 1.24 Mg ha−1 year−1 higher than those of the northern region.