Effects of thinning paper birch on conifer productivity and understory plant diversity

Naturally regenerated paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) is commonly removed from juvenile interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca [Beissn.] Franco) plantations in southern interior British Columbia, Canada, to increase conifer productivity and create a free-growing stand; however, this practice is expensive and contentious because of possible negative ecological impacts. One solution is to retain an optimal density of birch where growth gains of understory Douglas-fir are balanced against losses to Armillaria ostoyae (Romagn.) Herink and understory plant species diversity. We sought to find this optimal density by comparing four evenly applied birch density reduction treatments (0, 400, 1111, and 4444 retained birch stems ha^?1) and an unthinned control (>7300 retained birch stems ha^?1). The mortality rate of Douglas-fir due to Armillaria root disease increased non-significantly with thinning intensity. Mean diameter increment of surviving Douglas-fir improved the most where birch was completely removed, with little variation among intermediate thinning treatments. Height growth was unaffected by the thinning treatments. Diversity of cryptogams was significantly greater in the control than where all birch was removed. We suggest that the treatment with 4444 retained birch stems ha^?1 provides the best balance for improving Douglas-fir growth while minimizing risk of increased Armillaria root disease and reduced understory plant diversity in young mixed stands.     

Effects of red alder and paper birch competition on juvenile growth of three conifer species in southwestern British Columbia

We examined the effects of competition from red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) on the growth of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla Sarg.), and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) at a site near Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. At this site, the three coniferous species and two broadleaf species had been planted in 1999 as part of a long-term experiment examining effects of broadleaf density on conifer growth. Red alder and paper birch were planted alone and as a 50:50 mixture at four densities (0, 277, 556, and 1150 stems ha⁻¹).     

不同植物组合对采矿塌陷区夏季温湿度的影响

研究了不同植物组合在夏季对环境温湿度的影响,测定了不同植物组合对小环境增湿降温等方面的指标,比较对小环境的调节效果。研究结果表明,结构复杂、绿量大的植物组合增湿降温效果明显,故对采矿塌陷区的生态修复采用立体结构。     

不同恢复途径对大兴安岭森林沼泽群落植物多样性影响

采用样带网格调查方法与多样性指数方法,研究大兴安岭天然森林沼泽群落、火干扰后自然演替途径恢复的森林沼泽群落和人工造林途径恢复的森林沼泽群落的物种丰富度、α多样性和β多样性及其沿过渡带环境梯度的变化规律,探讨退化森林沼泽群落的有效恢复途径。结果表明:①演替群落和人工群落的物种丰富度较其天然群落均有所增加(4~24和7~25),但两者的恢复机制却有所不同,前者草本种类和灌木种类均较其相应天然群落有所增加,而后者仅有草本种类增加,灌木种类却显著减少;②天然、演替和人工群落的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数沿沼泽至森林方向过渡带环境梯度依次呈递减、恒定和波动分布格局(2.1907、1.9319、0.8134,2.1216、1.9642、2.0493,1.9693、1.2830、1.4782),且演替群落与天然群落较接近(-3.2%、1.7%、151.9%),而人工群落与天然群落差异性较大(-10.1%、-33.6%、81.7%),因此,演替途径在维持物种多样性方面较人工途径有优势;③天然、演替和人工群落的组成种沿过渡带环境梯度平均变动速率依次为16.2、21.3和18.8,演替群落和人工群落分别较天然群落提高了32.7%和16.0%,因此,演替途径在维持群落多样性方面也较人工途径有优势。     

Impact of the invasion of pinewood nematode and the following different removal disturbance intensities on the plant diversity of Masson pine community

Reported in this paper are our findings of the study on changes in species diversity of different Masson pine communities after the invasion of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhren) Nickle and subsequent and different removal disturbance management approaches. Based on the results, the species diversity indices for the arbor layers of the different communities can be arranged in the following order (from high to low): 1) broad-leaved stand after the removal of all infected pine trees in the pure pine stand in Fuyang; 2) lightly infected Masson pine and Schima superba mixed stand in Fuyang; 3) uninfected stand mixture of Masson pine and Castanopsis fargesii as a control; 4) lightly infested pure Masson pine stand in Fuyang; 5) Quercus variables stand formed following the selective removal of infected pine trees from a mixed Masson pine and Q. variables stand in Zhoushan Islands; 6) pure young Masson pine stand formed following the removal of all infected pine trees from a pure Masson pine stand; 7) pure Liquidambar formosana stand after the removal of infected pine trees from a pure pine stand in Zhoushan Islands; 8) a mixed stand consisting of Pinus thunbergii and the Masson pine in Zhoushan Island; and 9) moderately infected Masson pine stand in Zhoushan Islands. All the three diversity indices (R ₀ = richness, H′ = Shannon-Wiener index, and E = evenness) for the shrub layer did not show any significant differences among the various communities except for the pure pine stand in Zhoushan Island, which had the lowest diversity. The three indices for the herb layer of the pure young Masson pine, Q. variables stand, and L. formosana stand were higher than that of other stands. The integrated analysis showed that the Masson pine forest in different geographical situations and extent of damage had distinct disparity, just as in different disturbance degrees and restoring manners. We created the “index of disturbing intensity of stump and fallen woods” (IDISFW) to represent the degree of disturbance of tree removal to plant diversity. We found that the relationship between the species diversity index and the IDISFW shows both a lower and higher degree of removal disturbance that follows the “mid-altitude bulge” theory. Specifically, both excessive and insufficient removal of infected trees will cause a decline of plant species diversity to a certain degree. Covariance analysis indicated that different IDISFW had no significant effects on the species diversity of the arbor layer, but had different impacts on that of the shrub and herb layers, and therefore can be used to assess changes in species diversity of different Masson pine communities after the invasion of pine wood nematode. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2006, 17(7): 1,157–1,163 [译自: 应用生态学报]