Diversity of tropical forest landscape types in Hainan Island, China

A novel landscape classification system was proposed in this study based on landscape ecological theory and the differentiation in climate, topography, soil, vegetation and land use mode. Five basic units (zone, tract, province, region and type) and two assistant units (sub and group) were used in this system. The tropical forest landscape in Hainan Island was regarded as a landscape province, belonging to global tropical forest landscape zone, Asiatic (oriental) tropical forest landscape tract and Chinese tropical forest landscape subtract. Based on the grade system of region, sub-region, type-group and type, this landscape province (Hainan Island) is divided into 6 landscape regions (east moist forest landscape, west semi-arid forest landscape, central-south mountainous forest landscape, tropical evergreen needle-leaved forest landscape, tropical bamboo landscape and tropical plantation landscape), 11 tropical forest landscape sub-regions represented by tropical lowland valley rain forest landscape, 26 tropical forest landscape-type groups represented by tropical lowland valley Dipterocarpaceae forest landscape, and 54 forest landscape types (FLT) represented by lowland valley Vatica mangachapoi forest. Generally, this classification system represents the landscape diversity of the tropical forest in Hainan Island. Further studies are needed to better understand the landscape diversity of Hainan Island.     

Degradation of N-acyl homoserine lactone quorum sensing signal molecules by forest root-associated fungi

A collection of mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal root-associated fungi coming from forest environments was screened for their ability to degrade N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHL) or to prevent AHL recognition by producing quorum sensing inhibitors (QSI). No production of QS-inhibitors or -activators was detected using the two biosensors Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens in the culture supernatant of these fungi. However, the ability to degrade C6- and 3O,C6-HSL was detected for three fungal isolates. Acidification assay revealed that the AHL were degraded by a lactonase activity for two of these isolates. These results demonstrated for the first time that the forest root-associated fungi are capable of degrading the AHL signal molecules.     

不同人为干扰措施对天然次生灌丛土壤肥力及蓄水能力的影响

亚热带常绿阔叶林遭反复干扰后退化形成的天然次生灌丛在未管护模式下难以恢复为乔木林。在浙江省临安市选择典型天然次生灌丛,以强度人为干扰为对照、分别进行保护性干扰和适度人为干扰,探讨灌丛土壤蓄水能力和肥力质量的响应。4年试验结果表明:与强度人为干扰相比,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰后的土壤总贮水量、吸持贮水量和滞留贮水量分别提高了12.41%、5.33%、17.37%和29.13%、33.23%和26.24%;最大持水量、毛管持水量和最小持水量分别提高了23.35%、9.51%、17.55%和48.63%、56.08和71.05%;与强度人为干扰相比,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰的综合肥力分别提高了1.9%和38.5%,其中保护性干扰的水解氮、有机碳和有机质含量提高了12.11%、38.91%和38.94%,适度人为干扰的水解氮、有效磷、有机碳和有机质含量提高了61.97%、90.57%、130%和130.04%,保护性干扰和适度人为干扰的土壤综合评价指数分别提高了15.43%和58.94%。研究表明,与保护性干扰相比,适度人为干扰在土壤的蓄水保水、肥力和固碳增汇等方面更能达到预期的目标。在有条件经营的情况下,可以选择适度人为干扰措施对天然次生灌丛进行管理从而达到加快土壤恢复的目的。     

The response of lichens inhabiting exposed wood of spruce logs to post-hurricane disturbances in Western Carpathian forests

We investigated which of the following environmental factors: the number of years since the windthrow of the tree (the age of dead wood), the phytocenosis (the type of forest community), altitude, exposure, wood hardness and the spatial scale of forest disturbances (small gaps with a few fallen spruces vs large-area windthrows) contributed to the diversity and abundance of lichens inhabiting the exposed wood of windthrown spruce trees in Polish Western Carpathian forests. Both Shannon H index and sum of coverage coefficients rose with increasing age of the wood, levelling off after 11–14 y (diversity) and 14–17 y (abundance). This factor appeared to be the most important for this group of lichens, but the significant positive impact of large-area windthrows on the lichen abundance was also demonstrated by using a GLM model. The age of the wood we precisely determined on the basis of data on Norway spruce mortality collected annually in permanent plots of the Gorce National Park since 2000. Using the Shore durometer we linked the course of the wood-inhabiting lichen succession with wood decay more precisely than before. The largest number of species was associated with medium hard wood, i.e., 51 < x ≤ 80 on the Shore scale. Based on the NMDS analysis, we distinguished four age groups of logs, differing in lichen abundance and defined by the dominance of distinctive species. A large number of usually corticolous lichen species used the wood of windthrown spruce logs as an optional habitat to survive large-scale, post-hurricane forest disturbances.     

长白山阔叶红松林生态价位分级与生态系统经营对策

引入生态价位概念,以长白山阔叶红松林为对象,采用层次分析法进行了生态价位划分．长白山阔叶红松林的生态系统价值评价综合指数由物理环境因素、群落结构组成、干扰状况3方面8个指标构成,包括坡度、土层厚度、土壤母质稳定性、结构盖度指数、物种多样性指数、更新力指数、优势种寿命和干扰度．采用层次分析法取得相应指标的系数;根据综合评价指数分布范围划分了3个生态价位类型,即低生态价位,综合指数1～1．874;中生态价位,综合指数1．874～2．749;高生态价位,综合指数2．749～3．623;对典型样地进行了生态价位分级,分析了各个生态价位类型森林的主要特征,据此提出了相应的生态系统管理对策,即高生态价位阔叶红松林采用封禁保护型自然经营,中生态价位阔叶红松林采用生态修复型半自然经营,低生态价位阔叶红松林采用近自然生态重建型经营。     

Spatial patterns of trees and juveniles in a laurel forest of Tenerife, Canary Islands

Spatial patterns are important characteristics of the forest and theycan reveal such things as successional status and ecological characteristics ofthe species. We tested the hypothesis that spatial distribution will bedifferent, depending on whether the species is intolerant or tolerant to shade.We assessed the spatial distribution of trees (> 4 cm dbh) andjuveniles in eight laurel forest plots. A univariate spatial analysis(performed with Ripley's K₁) showed that all tree species havesignificantaggregation at short distances (2 m). Nevertheless, two groups ofspecies could be differentiated: Erica scoparia,Myrica faya and Ilex canariensisshowed a tendency for aggregation at large distances (larger than 6m)while L. azorica and Prunuslusitanicashowed aggregation only at shorter distances. Ripley's BivariateK_1,2 analyses showed no significant differences in the spatialdistribution ofanalyzed species pairs from a null model. Only Laurusazoricahad a sufficient sample size for analysis of juvenile distribution. Aunivariateanalysis revealed thatL. azorica seedlings (stems < 50 cm high)were clumped in some plots up to 5 m, but this was not consistent.Saplings (stems > 50 cm high and < 4 cm dbh)didnot show strong clumping even at short distances. L.azoricasaplings had no significant aggregation with, nor repulsionfrom, adults of the same or different species. Spatial patterns of the speciesshould be considered in the development of restoration plans of the laurelforest 90%of which has disappeared or been intensively disturbed on Tenerife Island.     

Intraspecific variation in the status of ant symbiosis on a myrmecophyte,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Macaranga bancana,</Emphasis> between primary and secondary forests in Borneo

A tree species, Macaranga bancana , distributed in South East Asian tropics has a mutualistic relationship with specific symbiotic ant species, which defend the plant from herbivores. To examine the intraspecific variation in the status of the ant-plant symbiosis among microhabitats of different light conditions, we investigated the species composition of nesting ants and the herbivory damage on M. bancana saplings by field observations and sampling in primary and secondary forests in Sarawak. In addition, the effectiveness of non-ant (physical and chemical) defenses were estimated by feeding the larvae of a polyphagous lepidopteran with M. bancana leaves from saplings in the two types of forests. All saplings in the primary forest were colonized by two Crematogaster ant species that had been known to be the obligate symbionts of M. bancana, while in the secondary forest, about half of the saplings were occupied by several ant species that were not obligate symbionts. There was little herbivory damage on saplings colonized by the two Crematogaster symbiont ants in both forest types, while the saplings colonized by the other ant species suffered a 10–60% loss of leaf area. Larval mortality of the polyphagous lepidopteran Spodoptera litura was significantly higher when larvae fed on leaves of M. bancana saplings in the secondary forest than when fed on leaves of M. bancana saplings in the primary forest. These results suggest that the symbiosis between ants and M. bancana is looser and the non-ant-defenses are stronger in secondary forests, where light is more intense, than in primary forests.     

Central Amazon Floodplain Forests: Root Adaptations to Prolonged Flooding

The floodplains of Central Amazonia represent a complex system of inundated river valleys and shallow lakes along the Solimões–Amazonas river, which is subjected to an annual flood-pulse lasting up to 10 months. Such flooding reaching an amplitude of about ten meters causes dramatic changes in the bioavailability of nutrients and oxygen levels and poses extreme constraints for plant survival and reproductivity. Tree species of inundation forests in Central Amazonia had to evolve adaptive mechanisms to both desiccation of soils and partial or full submergence. To adapt to flooded conditions, some trees overcome the flood period by dormancy accompanied by defoliation and formation of annual rings in the wood. Other species maintain metabolism and retain the foliage during the flooding, representing another adaptive mechanism to low oxygen availability. This investigation focused on the root physiology and morphology of six species typical of white-water inundation areas (várzea) led to a preliminary classification of adaptive strategies of trees inhabiting forest communities in floodplains of the Amazon basin.     

Carbon and nitrogen cycling in North American boreal forests

A model of boreal forest dynamics was adapted to examine the factors controlling carbon and nitrogen cycling in the boreal forests of interior Alaska. Empirical relationships were used to simulate decomposition and nitrogen availability as a function of either substrate quality, the soil thermal regime, or their interactive effects. Test comparisons included black spruce forests growing on permafrost soils and black spruce, birch, and white spruce forests growing on permafrost-free soils. For each forest, simulated above-ground tree biomass, basal area, density, litterfall, moss biomass, and forest floor mass, turnover, thickness, and nitrogen concentration were compared to observed data. No one decay equation simulated forests entirely consistent with observed data, but over the range of upland forest types in interior Alaska, the equation that combined the effects of litter quality and the soil thermal regime simulated forests that were most consistent with observed data. For black spruce growing on permafrost soils, long-term simulated forest dynamics in the absence of fire resulted in unproductive forests with a thick forest floor and low nitrogen mineralization. Fires were an important means to interrupt this sequence and to restart forest succession.