Abstract
Aim of study: to study the effects of gap size, gap age and bamboo Fargesia denudata on natural regeneration of Abies faxoniana, both of which are the ubiquitous dominants in our research area.Area of study: subalpine coniferous forests in Wanglang Natural Reserve in Southwestern China.Material and Methods: 10 transect belts were randomly established, and a total of 97 gaps were recorded and used.Main results: (1) the number of bamboos with coverage of <17% significantly increased with increases of gap size and age, but the latter had little influence on the numbers of F. denudata with coverage of >17%. (2) F. denudata strongly inhibited A. faxoniana seedlings and saplings in small, young and old gaps, where the amount of A. faxoniana recruitment was relatively abundant, than in other types of gap. (3) The numbers of A. faxoniana seedlings in A-gaps, significantly decreased with the increases in gap size. However, in gaps where F. denudate was also present, A. faxoniana seedlings and saplings were insensitive to gap size or age. Research highlights: thick F. denudata would not be influenced by gap size or age. Because of the low occurrences of A. faxoniana seedlings and saplings, the negative effect of gap size, gap age and F. denudata on A. faxoniana recruitment was unclear.Key words: Abies faxoniana; Fargesia denudata; gap age; gap size; regeneration.
Highlights
Canopy gaps, known as spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity in forests (Denslow, 1987; Connell, 1989; Ostertag, 1998), facilitate the establishment and growth of understory vegetation (Ehrenfeld, 1980; Huenneke, 1983) by creating new open spaces and releasing resources (Gray & Spies, 1997; McGuire et al, 2001; De Chantal et al, 2003)
Aim of study: to study the effects of gap size, gap age and bamboo Fargesia denudata on natural regeneration of Abies faxoniana, both of which are the ubiquitous dominants in our research area
With regard to the third issue, our results proved the strong inhibition of F. denudata on A. faxoniana seedlings
Summary
Known as spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity in forests (Denslow, 1987; Connell, 1989; Ostertag, 1998), facilitate the establishment and growth of understory vegetation (Ehrenfeld, 1980; Huenneke, 1983) by creating new open spaces and releasing resources (Gray & Spies, 1997; McGuire et al, 2001; De Chantal et al, 2003). Gaps are favorable for light-demanding species like bamboos and shrubs (Taylor & Qin, 1988a), and for shadetolerant coniferous regeneration as well (Gaudio et al, 2008). Gap size is thought to be very important in maintaining the species diversity and tree regeneration success (Brokaw, 1985; Pearson et al, 2003; Li et al, 2005; Albanesi et al, 2008). Higher light availability in large gaps primarily facilitates coniferous regeneration’s competitors, e.g. shrubs, broad - leaved tree seedlings, and bamboos (Sapkota & Oden, 2009), which would reduce the light received by coniferous regeneration. With the gap environment develops, the gradually lower light levels would lead to inter-species
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