The phylogenetic structure of a subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest community before and after an ice-snow storm in Gutianshan, eastern China

Abstract

<p indent=0mm>Ice-snow storms are a major natural disturbance, and it is an important driver of forest regeneration in middle and high latitudes. Previous studies have focused on the impact of ice-snow storm on forest dynamics|however, few studies have investigated the impact of ice-snow storms on the phylogenetic structure of a forest community. In this study, we studied the phylogenetic structure of a 24-ha subtropical evergreen, broad-leaved forest in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in Zhejiang Province before (2005) and after (2010) an ice-snow storm. We compared NRI and NTI of the community at three grain sizes, four topographic habitat types, and three size classes between before and after the ice-snow storm. Furthermore, we simulated random mortality during 2005–2010 and compared MPD and MNTD between observed values and random mortality in 2010. We found that (1) NRI and NTI were significantly higher after the storm across grain size, habitat, and size class. (2) Additionally, MNTD were not significantly different between random mortality and observed values in 2010 for the three size classes and two habitats, whereas all other cases showed that MNTD and MPD were significantly larger for random mortality than that for observed values. The results indicate that community phylogenetic structures of the study forest were more clustered after the storm, and they were little affected by grain size, vertical layer and habitat condition. This study improves our understanding of ice-storm disturbance on subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest community phylogenetic structure.