Exploring the influence of large trees on temperate forest spatial structure from the angle of mingling

Abstract

Large trees have been found to directly affect spatial patterns in forests and understanding forest spatial structure is important for developing effective forest management practices. We examined two primary broad-leaved Korean pine forests in Heilongjiang Province, China, to investigate the effects of large-diameter trees on the distribution of adjacent conspecific trees and to assess whether the effect is related to the conspecific negative density dependence hypothesis in temperate forest. We classified the tree with the widest diameter (diameter at breast height ≥ 50 cm) as the central tree and then surveyed the distribution of adjacent trees around each central tree. The degree of mingling between the central tree and adjacent trees was the lowest at 5–7 m. As the diameter of the adjacent trees increased the degree of mingling declined. This revealed that around the central tree, there was a ring of small trees conspecific to the central tree. The ring-like structure around large-diameter trees is consistent with the conspecific negative density dependence hypothesis. Thus, we propose that a ring-like structure promotes the succession and regeneration of the temperate forest.