Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Research Articles

Tree-related microhabitat diversity as a proxy for the conservation of beetle communities in managed forests of Fagus sylvatica

Abstract Integrating the conservation of biodiversity into silvicultural practices is one of the main challenges facing forest owners in the promotion of an emergent approach to sustainable forest management across European forests. The Mediterranean forests are among the richest biodiverse forest ecosystems due to their environmental heterogeneity, but climate change is threatening their integrity, with critical implications for the availability of ecosystem services. Forests managed for commercial purposes are under increasing pressure to provide timber while supporting biodiversity. This study aims to analyse the relationship between tree-related microhabitats (TreMs), which are structures occurring on living or standing dead trees that constitute an essential substrate for several living species, and beetles, an important indicator species group for forest biodiversity monitoring. Four generalized linear models were fitted to assess the influence of environmental factors, forest structure, and biodiversity-related parameters on the abundance and richness of beetles, mainly on saproxylic beetles. The study highlights significant associations between the abundance and richness of individual groups and types of TreMs and the Italian Red List of saproxylic species. Therefore, TreMs can serve as a tool to map, monitor, and enhance forest biodiversity in managed forests.

Linking structure and species richness to support forest biodiversity monitoring at large scales

Key messageAuthors have analyzed the possible correlation between measurements/indicators of forest structure and species richness of many taxonomic or functional groups over three regions of Germany. Results show the potential to use structural attributes as a surrogate for species richness of most of the analyzed taxonomic and functional groups. This information can be transferred to large-scale forest inventories to support biodiversity monitoring.ContextWe are currently facing a dramatic loss in biodiversity worldwide and this initiated many monitoring programs aiming at documenting further trends. However, monitoring species diversity directly is very resource demanding, in particular in highly diverse forest ecosystems.AimsWe investigated whether variables applied in an index of stand structural diversity, which was developed based on forest attributes assessed in the German National Forest Inventory, can be calibrated against richness of forest-dwelling species within a wide range of taxonomic and functional groups.MethodsWe used information on forest structure and species richness that has been comprehensively assessed on 150 forest plots of the German biodiversity exploratories project, comprising a large range of management intensities in three regions. We tested, whether the forest structure index calculated for these forest plots well correlate with the number of species across 29 taxonomic and functional groups, assuming that the structural attributes applied in the index represent their habitat requirements.ResultsThe strength of correlations between the structural variables applied in the index and number of species within taxonomic or functional groups was highly variable. For some groups such as Aves, Formicidae or vascular plants, structural variables had a high explanatory power for species richness across forest types. Species richness in other taxonomic and functional groups (e.g., soil and root-associated fungi) was not explained by individual structural attributes of the index. Results indicate that some taxonomic and functional groups depend on a high structural diversity, whereas others seem to be insensitive to it or even prefer structurally poor stands.ConclusionTherefore, combinations of forest stands with different degrees of structural diversity most likely optimize taxonomic diversity at the landscape level. Our results can support biodiversity monitoring through quantification of forest structure in large-scale forest inventories. Changes in structural variables over inventory periods can indicate changes in habitat quality for individual taxonomic groups and thus points towards national forest inventories being an effective tool to detect unintended effects of changes in forest management on biodiversity.

The Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network: 20-year achievements and outlook

The Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network: 20-year achievements and outlook

Maximum canopy height is associated with community phylogenetic structure in boreal forests

AbstractUnderstanding how maximum canopy height is related to forest community assembly is essential yet largely unexplored. Maximum canopy height is affected by competition and abiotic environmental factors through different ecological processes (e.g. niche differentiation and environmental filtering), as well as historical or stochastic factors. However, little has been done to empirically examine the ecological processes that influence maximum canopy height. We set out to examine the relationship between maximum canopy height and community phylogenic structure. We surveyed maximum canopy heights from a regional dataset of forest plots (466 sites of 50 m × 50 m) from the boreal forest of northeastern Alberta, Canada. We then explored the relationships between maximum canopy height as measured by airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and the phylogenetic structure of seed plants, represented by net relatedness index and nearest taxa index. We found stronger phylogenetic clustering among major evolutionary clades for communities with higher maximum canopy height, which implied that environmental filtering by abiotic factors is a driving factor for boreal forests. However, we also found stronger phylogenetic overdispersion within each clade for communities with higher maximum height, indicating more intense niche differentiation. Our results suggest that communities with higher maximum canopy height may have experienced more intense historical abiotic environmental filtering and recent niche differentiation in boreal forests. These findings will contribute to the monitoring and management of forest biodiversity.

Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Based on Remotely Sensed Spectral Diversity—A Review

Forests are essential for global environmental well-being because of their rich provision of ecosystem services and regulating factors. Global forests are under increasing pressure from climate change, resource extraction, and anthropologically-driven disturbances. The results are dramatic losses of habitats accompanied with the reduction of species diversity. There is the urgent need for forest biodiversity monitoring comprising analysis on α, β, and γ scale to identify hotspots of biodiversity. Remote sensing enables large-scale monitoring at multiple spatial and temporal resolutions. Concepts of remotely sensed spectral diversity have been identified as promising methodologies for the consistent and multi-temporal analysis of forest biodiversity. This review provides a first time focus on the three spectral diversity concepts “vegetation indices”, “spectral information content”, and “spectral species” for forest biodiversity monitoring based on airborne and spaceborne remote sensing. In addition, the reviewed articles are analyzed regarding the spatiotemporal distribution, remote sensing sensors, temporal scales and thematic foci. We identify multispectral sensors as primary data source which underlines the focus on optical diversity as a proxy for forest biodiversity. Moreover, there is a general conceptual focus on the analysis of spectral information content. In recent years, the spectral species concept has raised attention and has been applied to Sentinel-2 and MODIS data for the analysis from local spectral species to global spectral communities. Novel remote sensing processing capacities and the provision of complementary remote sensing data sets offer great potentials for large-scale biodiversity monitoring in the future.

Diversity Monitoring of Coexisting Birds in Urban Forests by Integrating Spectrograms and Object-Based Image Analysis

In the context of rapid urbanization, urban foresters are actively seeking management monitoring programs that address the challenges of urban biodiversity loss. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has attracted attention because it allows for the collection of data passively, objectively, and continuously across large areas and for extended periods. However, it continues to be a difficult subject due to the massive amount of information that audio recordings contain. Most existing automated analysis methods have limitations in their application in urban areas, with unclear ecological relevance and efficacy. To better support urban forest biodiversity monitoring, we present a novel methodology for automatically extracting bird vocalizations from spectrograms of field audio recordings, integrating object-based classification. We applied this approach to acoustic data from an urban forest in Beijing and achieved an accuracy of 93.55% (±4.78%) in vocalization recognition while requiring less than ⅛ of the time needed for traditional inspection. The difference in efficiency would become more significant as the data size increases because object-based classification allows for batch processing of spectrograms. Using the extracted vocalizations, a series of acoustic and morphological features of bird-vocalization syllables (syllable feature metrics, SFMs) could be calculated to better quantify acoustic events and describe the soundscape. A significant correlation between the SFMs and biodiversity indices was found, with 57% of the variance in species richness, 41% in Shannon’s diversity index and 38% in Simpson’s diversity index being explained by SFMs. Therefore, our proposed method provides an effective complementary tool to existing automated methods for long-term urban forest biodiversity monitoring and conservation.

Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio): Twenty years of exploring community assembly mechanisms and prospects for future research

Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio): Twenty years of exploring community assembly mechanisms and prospects for future research

Species composition and community structure of warm temperate deciduous broadleaved forests in Huangguan of Qinling Mountains, China

The Qinling Mountain is a natural boundary between warm temperate zone and subtropical zone. While the China Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network (CForBio) have basically covered most of the climate regions in China, few plots were located in the climate transition zone. Following the field protocol of CForBio and the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), a 25 hm2(500 m×500 m) forest plot was established in Huangguan Nature Reserve in Shaanxi Province, China, in 2019. In this study, we analyzed species composition, flora characteristics, diameter class structure, and spatial distribution patterns of dominant tree species based on the data of all woody species with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥1 cm. The results showed that there were 75137 woody individuals with DBH ≥1 cm in the plot (95679 when including branching individuals), belonging to 121 species, 83 genera and 44 families. The flora type at the genera level was mainly temperate, accounting for 71.1% of the total genera, and mixed with some tropical components. The dominant species in the community were obvious, with the number of individuals in the top 5 species exceeding 40% of the total number of individuals, the number of individuals in the top 50 species accounting for 95% of the total number of individuals, and the number of individuals in the remaining 61 species being less than 5% of the total. The diameter distribution of all woody indivi-duals in the plot was inverted 'J' type. Spatial distribution patterns varied across the four most abundant species with importance value >5. The degree of aggregation within species decreased with the increases of scales, while the spatial distribution of different species was affected by environmental heterogeneity. Warm-temperate deciduous broadleaved forest in Qinling Mountains had abundant species, stable community structure and good regeneration, reflecting the typical characteristics of the transition from warm temperate zone to subtropical zone. Environmental heterogeneity might be an important factor affecting the spatial distribution of tree species in the plot.

Developing indicators for participatory forest biodiversity monitoring systems in South Sumatra

There is often a striking disconnect between communities that create biodiversity frameworks, set targets, and design monitoring system and those that actually implement them. This study aims to (i) develop an integrated (participatory) approach to contextualize available sets of biodiversity indicators to meet specific stakeholders' needs, and (ii) select high-performance and rewarding indicators for participatory forest biodiversity monitoring systems (PFBMS). We used a hierarchical characterization approach to biodiversity to create a global pool of indicators. Specialists then used a framework consisting of multi-tiered filters to select high performance and rewarding indicators from the pool applicable to PFBMS at province and forest management unit levels in Indonesia. Selected indicators are able to reflect changes taking place at various levels in the ecological hierarchy from landscape, habitat, to species level including complete ecosystem attributes, i.e., structural, functional, and compositional. The integrated approach combines the expert guidance and experience of professionals at province and local levels; ensures global-local connection; and follows the participatory approach.

Preface

The International Conference on Forest Conservation and Management (ICFCM) 2019 was held as a part of the 5th International Conference of Indonesia Forestry Researcher (INAFOR) for broadening the forestry research dissemination and networks.The ICFCM 2019 was the first international conference held by the Forest Research and Development Cente (FRDC)r, Forestry and Environment Research Development and Innovation Agency (FOERDIA), the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia (MoEF). Implementation of the ICFCM 2019 was a strategy to strengthen the research and innovation to an international community. It was also a medium for scientific communities, who actively conduct research and stakeholders working on the role of science in the tropical forest management and biodiversity conservation, to exchange knowledge, update information, improve incentives for adoption, provide recommendations of future research, and develop commitment for research collaboration.The theme of the ICFCM 2019 was “Innovative Solutions for Managing Tropical Forests and Conserving Biodiversity to Support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” aimed to supports actions for sustainable forest management goals and biodiversity conservation. This proceedings presents 45 research results on innovative solutions ranging from managing tropical forests; policies and actions for biodiversity conservation; natural disturbance, biodiversity in forests and landscapes; climate change, ecosystem function; monitoring of forest biodiversity at different spatial scales; valuation of biodiversity; and the future research in managing biodiversity.List of Scientific Committee is available in this PDF.

Analysing the quality of Swiss National Forest Inventory measurements of woody species richness

BackgroundUnder ongoing climate and land-use change, biodiversity is continuously decreasing and monitoring biodiversity is becoming increasingly important. National Forest Inventory (NFI) programmes provide valuable time-series data on biodiversity and thus contribute to assessments of the state and trends in biodiversity, as well as ecosystem functioning. Data quality in this context is of paramount relevance, particularly for ensuring a meaningful interpretation of changes. The Swiss NFI revisits about 8%–10% of its sample plots regularly in repeat surveys to supervise the quality of fieldwork.MethodsWe analysed the relevance of observer bias with equivalence tests, examined data quality objectives defined by the Swiss NFI instructors, and calculated the pseudo-turnover (PT) of species composition, that is, the percentage of species not observed by both teams. Three attributes of woody species richness from the latest Swiss NFI cycles (3 and 4) were analysed: occurrence of small tree and shrub species (1) on the sample plot and (2) at the forest edge, and (3) main shrub and trees species in the upper storey.ResultsWe found equivalent results between regular and repeat surveys for all attributes. Data quality, however, was significantly below expectations in all cases, that is, as much as 20%–30% below the expected data quality limit of 70%–80% (proportion of observations that should not deviate from a predefined threshold). PT values were about 10%–20%, and the PT of two out of three attributes decreased significantly in NFI4. This type of uncertainty – typically caused by a mixture of overlooking and misidentifying species – should be considered carefully when interpreting change figures on species richness estimates from NFI data.ConclusionsOur results provide important information on the data quality achieved in Swiss NFIs in terms of the reproducibility of the collected data. The three applied approaches proved to be effective for evaluating the quality of plot-level species richness and composition data in forest inventories and other biodiversity monitoring programmes. As such, they could also be recommended for assessing the quality of biodiversity indices derived from monitoring data.

Assessment of UAV photogrammetric DTM-independent variables for modelling and mapping forest structural indices in mixed temperate forests

Abstract In the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, maintaining and enhancing forest biodiversity is essential. Forest managers and technicians should include biodiversity monitoring as support for sustainible forest management and conservation issues, through the adoption of forest biodiversity indices. The present study investigates the potential of a new type of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry derived variables for modelling forest structure indicies, which do not require the availability of a digital terrain model (DTM) such as those obtainable from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) surveys. The DTM-independent variables were calculated using raw 3D UAV photogrammetric data for modeling eight forest structure indices which are commonly used for forest biodiversity monitoring, namely: basal area (G); quadratic mean diameter (DBHmean); the standard deviation of Diameter at Breast Height (DBHσ); DBH Gini coefficient (Gini); the standard deviation of tree heights (Hσ); dominant tree height (Hdom); Lorey’s height (Hl); and growing stock volume (V). The study included two mixed temperate forests areas with a different type of management, with one area, left unmanaged for the past 50 years while the other being actively managed. A total of 30 field sample plots were measured in the unmanaged forest, and 50 field plots were measured in the actively managed forest. The accuracy of UAV DTM-independent predictions was compared with a benchmark approach based on traditional explanatory variables calculated from ALS data. Finally, DTM-independent variables were used to produce wall-to-wall maps of the forest structure indices in the two test areas and to estimate the mean value and its uncertainty according to a model-assisted regression estimators. DTM-independent variables led to similar predictive accuracy in terms of root mean square error compared to ALS in both study areas for the eight structure indices (DTM-independent average RMSE% = 20.5 and ALS average RMSE% = 19.8). Moreover, we found that the model-assisted estimation, with both DTM-independet and ALS, obtained lower standar errors (SE) compared to the one obtained by model-based estimation using only field plots. Relative efficiency coefficient (RE) revealed that ALS-based estimates were, on average, more efficient (average RE ALS = 3.7) than DTM-independent, (average RE DTM-independent = 3.3). However, the RE for the DTM-independent models was consistently larger than the one from the ALS models for the DBH-related variables (i.e. G, DBHmean, and DBHσ) and for V. This highlights the potential of DTM-independent variables, which not only can be used virtually on any forests (i.e., no need of a DTM), but also can produce as precise estimates as those from ALS data for key forest structural variables and substantially improve the efficiency of forest inventories.

UAV Remote Sensing for Biodiversity Monitoring: Are Forest Canopy Gaps Good Covariates?

Forest canopy gaps are important to ecosystem dynamics. Depending on tree species, small canopy openings may be associated with intra-crown porosity and with space among crowns. Yet, literature on the relationships between very fine-scaled patterns of canopy openings and biodiversity features is limited. This research explores the possibility of: (1) mapping forest canopy gaps from a very high spatial resolution orthomosaic (10 cm), processed from a versatile unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imaging platform, and (2) deriving patch metrics that can be tested as covariates of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring. The orthomosaic was imaged from a test area of 240 ha of temperate deciduous forest types in Central Italy, containing 50 forest inventory plots each of 529 m2 in size. Correlation and linear regression techniques were used to explore relationships between patch metrics and understory (density, development, and species diversity) or forest habitat biodiversity variables (density of micro-habitat bearing trees, vertical species profile, and tree species diversity). The results revealed that small openings in the canopy cover (75% smaller than 7 m2) can be faithfully extracted from UAV red, green, and blue bands (RGB) imagery, using the red band and contrast split segmentation. The strongest correlations were observed in the mixed forests (beech and turkey oak) followed by intermediate correlations in turkey oak forests, followed by the weakest correlations in beech forests. Moderate to strong linear relationships were found between gap metrics and understory variables in mixed forest types, with adjusted R2 from linear regression ranging from 0.52 to 0.87. Equally strong correlations in the same forest types were observed for forest habitat biodiversity variables (with adjusted R2 ranging from 0.52 to 0.79), with highest values found for density of trees with microhabitats and vertical species profile. In conclusion, this research highlights that UAV remote sensing can potentially provide covariate surfaces of variables of interest for forest biodiversity monitoring, conventionally collected in forest inventory plots. By integrating the two sources of data, these variables can be mapped over small forest areas with satisfactory levels of accuracy, at a much higher spatial resolution than would be possible by field-based forest inventory solely.

Fuzzy modelling of growth potential in forest development simulation

In the paper, we introduce a new fuzzy-based model for calculation of plant growth potential in the context of forest development simulation, which is an important tool for prediction and monitoring of forest biodiversity. When modelling a forest ecosystem, one needs to account for a significant amount of ambiguity in the specification of plant requirements and environmental conditions, whose overlap determines the competitive potential of co-occurring species. The proposed fuzzy model addresses the imprecision and uncertainty about proper interpretation of numerically estimated growth conditions with respect to linguistically specified plant requirements. Individual requirement levels are represented as fuzzy sets to which estimated growth conditions are mapped, while plant needs are modelled as fuzzy numbers with adjustable tolerance radii. The growth potential with respect to a particular resource is then calculated as a membership of condition mean in a fuzzy set of plant demand. We validate the model operation within the ForestMAS simulator on real data obtained from six decades of observations registered at a forest fire recovery site in northern Slovenia. We show that the enhanced expressiveness about the tolerance of tree species to deviations of growth conditions allows the fuzzy model to improve the accuracy of forest composition prediction with respect to the crisp model. Sensitivity analysis also shows that, in many cases, the fuzzy model increases simulation robustness with respect to vaguely defined plant needs and estimated site conditions.

The inclusion of overlooked lichen microhabitats in standardized forest biodiversity monitoring

AbstractEpiphytic lichens are increasingly included in forest biodiversity monitoring schemes, but most of the standardized guidelines consider only lichens colonizing a small part of tree trunks (1·0–1·5 m) and overlook other important microhabitats, such as fallen branches and stumps. In this paper, we present results of a small-scale pilot study to evaluate the possible advantage of including four distinct microhabitats in standardized procedures for assessing epiphytic lichen diversity. Trunk bases, trunks between 100 and 150 cm above the ground, stumps, and fallen branches were each sampled with a different standardized sampling method along a forest age gradient in temperate deciduous forests of the Caucasian region. Plot-level species richness was contrasted between the standardized sampling procedures of different substrata and a non-probabilistic floristic sampling. The interactions between sampling procedure and stand age were analysed using linear mixed models, and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP) were used for comparing species composition. Overall, 97 species were recorded, their richness increasing with increasing stand age. Results were consistent across the gradient of stand age and demonstrated that the adoption of standardized sampling procedures which include stumps and fallen branches in addition to tree trunks would increase the capability of maximizing species capture. This approach would allow researchers to evaluate lichen patterns by simultaneously considering the response of different communities sensitive to different stand-related factors. Despite the likelihood that a non-probabilistic floristic survey would give a more exhaustive picture of the plot-level lichen diversity, standardized sampling procedures that include tree trunks, fallen branches and stumps are likely to represent a reasonable trade-off between exhaustiveness and cost-effectiveness.

江西武夷山中亚热带南方铁杉针阔混交林群落组成与结构

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 江西武夷山中亚热带南方铁杉针阔混交林群落组成与结构 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201709051597 作者: 作者单位: 南京林业大学,南京林业大学,南京林业大学,江苏省中国科学院植物研究所,江西武夷山国家级自然保护区管理局 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金（31600328）；江苏省自然科学基金项目（BK20160924）；江苏省高校优势学科建设工程资助项目（PAPD） Community composition and structure of a mid-subtropical coniferous (Tsuga chinensis var. tchekiangensis) and broadleaf mixed forest in Jiangxi Wuyishan, China Author: Affiliation: Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing Forestry University,Nanjing Forestry University,Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences,Administrative Bureau of Jiangxi Wuyishan National Nature Reserve Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:长期监测型固定样地是研究物种分布格局、群落动态和生物多样性维持机制等森林生态系统特征、过程与机理的重要平台。我国亚热带地区已建立的森林固定样地多为阔叶林类型，而针叶（阔叶混交）林类型十分有限。按照巴拿马Barro Colorado Island大型森林固定样地的建设规范，于2014年在江西武夷山国家级自然保护区内海拔1800 m左右的南方铁杉（Tsuga chinensis var.tchekiangensis）天然种群分布区域建立中亚热带针阔混交林6.4 hm2固定样地。木本植物调查结果表明：（1）样地内胸径≥1 cm的木本植物共有29科53属89种，显著低于我国亚热带阔叶林样地平均水平，但显著高于温带针叶（阔叶混交）林样地平均水平；（2）在区系组成上，科以热带成分为主，而属以温带成分为主；（3）样地内独立个体数密度为2252株/hm2，与温带针叶（阔叶混交）林平均水平相当，但显著低于亚热带阔叶林平均水平；（4）胸高断面积为37.89 m2/hm2，与亚热带阔叶林样地平均水平相当，但显著低于温带针叶（阔叶混交）林平均水平；（5）群落成层现象显著，优势种明显，多度排名前4位的物种的个体数占总个体数的55%，而排名后40的物种仅占1%；（6）群落总径级结构呈倒"J"型分布，其中胸径≤10 cm的小径木占总个体数的76.9%，而胸径 > 30 cm的大径木仅占5.3%；（7）主要树种的径级结构有偏正态分布和"L"型分布等类型，但它们的种群在空间上均呈现显著的聚集分布特征；（8）南方铁杉虽然是群落现阶段最重要的优势种，但它的种群更新缓慢。研究结果充分显示该样地对中国森林多样性监测以及南方铁杉种群保育的重要意义。 Abstract:Long-term plots are important platforms for research on forest ecosystem characteristics, processes, and functioning such as species spatial distribution, community dynamics, and mechanisms for the maintenance of biodiversity. Many long-term forest plots have been established in subtropical China, but most of them are broadleaf forests. Plots that focus on coniferous (and broadleaf mixed) forests in that region are still scarce. Following the field protocol of the large long-term plot on Barro Colorado Island in Panama, a 6.4 hm2 mid-subtropical coniferous and broadleaf mixed forest long-term plot was established in the natural distribution area of Tsuga chinensis var. tchekiangensis (Pinaceae) at an elevation of around 1800 m in Jiangxi Wuyishan National Nature Reserve in 2014. The first inventory of woody plants with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 1 cm in the plot showed that (1) there were a total of 89 woody species belonging to 53 genera of 29 families; these values were significantly lower than the averages of subtropical broadleaf forest (SBF) plots, but significantly higher than those of temperate coniferous (and broadleaf mixed) forest (TCF) plots in China. (2) Tropical areal types were the major floral components at the family level, whereas temperate areal types were the major floral components at the genus level. (3) The density of independent individuals was 2252/hm2, which was similar to the average of TCF plots, but significantly lower than that of SBF plots. (4) The basal area at breast height of the plot was 37.89 m2/hm2, which was similar to the average of SBF plots, but significantly lower than that of TCF plots. (5) Canopy layering was evident and dominant species were distinct in the community. The sum of the abundance of the four most-abundant species was as high as 55% of the total abundance; however, the sum of abundance of the 40 least-abundant species was only 1% of the total. (6) The DBH distribution of the community appeared as a reversed ‘J’ shape. The number of small-size (DBH ≤ 10 cm) individuals was around 76.9% of the total abundance, whereas the number of large-size (DBH > 30 cm) individuals was only 5.3% of the total. (7) For the major species, DBH distribution shapes appeared as various types, such as a skewed distribution and ‘L’ shape, but spatially they all showed aggregated distribution patterns within the plot. (8) Though T. chinensis var. tchekiangensis was the most dominant species at the current successional stage, its recruitment rate was low. These findings demonstrate important values of this long-term plot for the monitoring of forest biodiversity and conservation of T. chinensis var. tchekiangensis in China. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

暖温带-北亚热带过渡区落叶阔叶林群落特征

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 暖温带-北亚热带过渡区落叶阔叶林群落特征 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201606011056 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金（30600204） Community characteristics of a deciduous broad-leaved forest in a temperate-subtropical ecological transition zone:Analyses of a 5-hm2 forest dynamics plot in Baiyunshan Nature Reserve, Henan Province Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:白云山落叶阔叶林是暖温带-北亚热带生态过渡区保存较完好的植被，具有北亚热带向暖温带的过度性质，群落结构相对复杂，物种种类相对丰富。参照巴拿马巴洛科罗拉多岛（Barro Colorado Island，BCI）样地的技术规范，于2015年在白云山国家森林公园建立了一个5 hm2固定监测样地，调查并鉴定了样地内胸径 ≥1 cm的木本植物。基于首次调查数据从物种组成、径级结构、重要值、群落分类和分布格局等方面进行了分析，结果表明：（1）样地共有17963株个体，隶属于34科55属93种；（2）该群落以锐齿槲栎（Quercus aliena var.acuteserrata）、华山松（Pinus armandii）、三桠乌药（Lindera obtusiloba）、漆树（Toxicodendron vernicifluum）占优势，稀有种占总种数的36.56%，偶见种占总种数的30.11%；（3）所有物种的径级结构分布呈倒"J"型，表明群落内有充足的幼苗，群落更新状况良好；（4）多元回归树经过交叉验证，以凹凸度和平均海拔将样地植被划分为3类，Ⅰ：锐齿槲栎-华山松-三桠乌药-秦岭木姜子-河南海棠群落；Ⅱ：锐齿槲栎-华山松-漆树-连翘群落；Ⅲ：锐齿槲栎-白桦-白檀-照山白群落；（5）点格局分析表明样地内优势种主要表现为聚集分布格局。研究结果有助于增加人们对暖温带-北亚热带生态过度区内森林群落的认识，为此区域内植物群落的管理和保护积累基础资料。 Abstract:Over the past decade, the Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network established large stem-mapping plots located along a latitudinal gradient from temperate to subtropical and tropical forests. The forest dynamics plot is as an important platform to monitor forest biodiversity. This approach enables collection of detailed data to understand the changes in biological diversity, forest community structure, and underlying mechanisms of species coexistence. Communities in the ecological transition zone between adjacent climatic zones tend to possess the characteristics of the adjacent area and also show unique and high species richness. Thus, it is critical to thoroughly investigate the community characteristics in the transition zone. Vegetation is well-preserved in the deciduous broad-leaved forest of the Baiyunshan Nature Reserve. The vegetation in this area is influenced by the transition from a north subtropical zone to a warm temperate zone. The community structure is relatively complex, with abundant species diversity. In 2015, the technical specifications of Barro Colorado Island in Panama were used to establish a 5-ha forest dynamics plot in the Baiyunshan Nature Reserve of Henan Province, central China, and the first survey has now been completed. Woody plants with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 1 cm were tagged, measured, and identified to species. In the present study, the species composition, diameter class structure, importance value, community classification, and distribution pattern of the data from the first survey were analyzed to count and identify novel species. The following conclusions were reached based on the results of the survey. (1) The plot contained 17963 individual trees (DBH ≥ 1 cm) from 34 families, 55 genera, and 93 species. (2) Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata, Pinus armandii, and Lindera obtusiloba occupied dominant positions in the community. Rare species accounted for 36.56% of the total number of species, whereas the occasional species contributed 30.11% to the total. (3) The distribution of all species based on the diameter class structure presented an inverted "J" type, implying abundant seedlings in the community indicating that community renewal is proceeding well. (4) Based on cross-validation of the multiple regression tree, the vegetation was divided into three classes according to the degrees of concavity and convexity, as well as the average altitude, I, Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata-Pinus armandii-Lindera obtusiloba-Litsea tsinlingensis-Malus honanensis; Ⅱ:Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata-Pinus armandii-Toxicodendron vernicifluum-Forsythia suspensa; and Ⅲ:Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata-Betula platyphylla-Symplocos paniculata-Rhododendron micranthum. (5) Point-pattern analysis showed that the distribution pattern of the dominant species is mainly aggregated within the plot. These results improve the current understanding of this forest community in a temperate-subtropical transition zone. This study also provides basic data for use in the management and protection of the plant community in this forest. The complex distribution of plant communities and species coexistence require long-term continuous monitoring and exploration. Research on the Baiyunshan plot has only just begun, and much more work is required to determine the forest canopy structure, pedigree of plant functional traits, community structure, and mechanisms maintaining biological diversity, among others. The Baiyunshan plot will hopefully serve as a platform to understand the species coexistence of a forest community in an ecological transition zone. This work will provide technical support for the business, management, and biodiversity protection of the area. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Thematic monitoring network of soil fauna diversity in China: exploring the mystery of soils

The important roles of soil fauna diversity and associated indicative functions of environment changes have received increasing attention from both academic circles and government decision makers. This paper summarizes the current situation of soil fauna monitoring in developed countries and related work in China. We introduce the objectives and structure of the thematic monitoring network of soil fauna diversity (TMNSFD), and highlighted some aspects that need attention. The TMNSFD proposed to establish permanent monitoring plots within forest plots established by Chinese Forest Biodiversity Monitoring Network for moni- toring soil fauna including earthworms, mites, springtails, nematodes and protists. During the years 2016-2020, TMNSFD may choose typical forest ecosystems as priority ecosystems for soil fauna monitoring, which cover temperate forest ecosystems (including broadleaved Korean pine mixed forests in Changbaishan, Jilin Province and warm temperate deciduous broadleaved forests in Donglingshan, Beijing), subtropical forest ecosystems (including typical subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests in Gutianshan, Zhejiang Province, lower subtropi- cal evergreen broadleaved forests in Dinghushan, Guangdong Province, and north subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province), tropical forest ecosystems (tropical rainforests in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province and Jianfengling, Hainan Province), as well as mountainous dark conifer- ous forests in Liziping, Sichuan Province. By 2030, TMNSFD soil fauna monitoring plots may cover various ecosystems including forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, farmland, urban areas and other typical ecosys- tems in different regions of China. TMNSFD emphasizes the value of applied molecular biology technology, unified monitoring methods, and manipulation experiments to simulate the effects of global change on soil fauna during the processes of monitoring. We propose monitoring soil fauna diversity once every 5 years in established monitoring plots. The objective of TMNSFD is to provide reliable and integrated data of soil fauna diversity via the establishment of standard monitoring methods and a data-sharing network at the na- tional level, which could support the development of ecological civilization in China. •生物多样性监测网络专题•

Chinese forest biodiversity monitoring: scientific foundations and strategic planning

Chinese forest biodiversity monitoring: scientific foundations and strategic planning

Decreasing deer browsing pressure influenced understory vegetation dynamics over 30 years

Thanks to the concomitant recordings of vegetation and deer browsing sampled first in 1976, then resurveyed in 2006, we show that forest plant communities shifted in response to deer population dynamics, stand management and eutrophication. High deer populations alter forest understory dynamics worldwide. However, no study ever attempted to rank the importance of deer herbivory relatively to other environmental drivers. In the Arc-en-Barrois National Forest (France), we investigated whether (i) deer browsing is a critical driver of vegetation composition and dynamics, (ii) the vegetation communities recover after a decrease in deer populations. In 2006, we resurveyed 321 plots from a network of 1027 plots where vegetation composition and browsing pressure was first assessed in 1976. We used coinertia analysis to identify the gradients in vegetation composition in 1976, when abiotic variables were also recorded. We assessed shifts in plant community composition using mean Ellenberg indicator values, analysed plot scores shifts along the axes of the coinertia analysis and correlated these shifts with changes in browsing pressure. Two major gradients determined vegetation composition in 1976: edaphic variables (nitrogen availability and soil moisture) and browsing pressure. Over the next 30 years, we noticed a strong increase in nitrophilous plant species frequency and community composition shifted towards lightly browsed characteristics, accompanying a decrease in browsing pressure. Shifts in community composition were significantly correlated with the intensity of changes in browsing pressure, showing that deer population dynamics were a determinant driver of changes in plant assemblages. Our results provide evidence for a structuring effect of deer browsing on vegetation composition, once forest site variations (soil moisture and nitrogen) were accounted for. We observed an incomplete recovery of the communities 25 years after the reduction of deer densities, suggesting a delayed response to deer population reduction. Long-term monitoring of forest biodiversity should therefore include browsing pressure assessment to control for potential effects of wild ungulates.