Recovery of Baikiaea forest of southwestern Zambia from shifting cultivation and its implications for sustainable management

We studied the dominant species by age category of re-growth, and how subsistence forest use through shifting cultivation impacted on the floristic composition of Baikiaea forest. For re-growth stands, variable sampling method was adopted in data collection while in mature stands, a sample plot size of 50 m 9 50 m was used at each of three study sites. Distribution of species by age categories showed that shrub, herb, and grass species were abundant in young re-growth stands while woody vegetation became common with increasing age of the re-growth stand. Hierarchical clustering for common woody species showed several species associations with age categories and also with relatively undisturbed woodland. Common regeneration mechanisms of key woody species were mainly by seed(48%), coppicing(40%) and root suckers(12%). The young re-growth stands of 6–10 and 11–15 years were characterized by B. petersiana, B.massiensis, Combretum zeyheri, and Guibourtia coleosperma. Older stands(16–20 years after abandonment) were characterized by B. plurijuga, Pterocarpus antunesii, and Baphia massiensis, thus closely mimicking the relatively undisturbed forest whose dominant key woody species were B. plurijuga, P. antunesii, and G. coloesperma. There were many stems in younger stands(2–5 years) and fewer stems in older re-growth stands of 16–20 years after abandonment following shifting cultivation. Older regrowth stands(16–20 years) were similar to undisturbed stands(P \ 0.005). The similarity between re-growth stands of 16–20 years and control stands demonstrates the recovery of Baikiaea forest over time after cessation of shifting agriculture. Baikiaea forest requires some disturbance to perpetuate the dominant species and begins to show signs of recovery from shifting cultivation within16–20 years after abandonment. This is contrary to assertions that this ecosystem could take up to about 100 years for abandoned fields to begin showing signs of     

Estimating vertical vegetation density through a SPOT5 imagery at multiple radiometric correction levels

There is growing concern about remote sensing of vertical vegetation density in rapidly expanding peri-urban interfaces.A widely used parameter for such density,i.e.,leaf area index (LAI),was measured in situ in Nanjing,China and then correlated with two vegetation indices (VI) derived from multiple radiometric correction levels of a SPOT5 imagery.The VIs were a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a ratio vegetation index (RVI),while the four radiometric correction levels were i) post atmospheric correction reflectance (PAC),ii) top of atmosphere reflectance (TOA),iii) satellite radiance (SR) and iv) digital number (DN).A total of 157 LAI-VI relationship models were established.The results showed that LAI is positively correlated with VI (r varies from 0.303 to 0.927,p < 0.001).The R 2 values of "pure" vegetation were generally higher than those of mixed vegetation.The average R 2 values of about 40 models based on DN data (0.688) were higher than that of the routinely used PAC (0.648).Independent variables of the optimal models for different vegetation quadrats included two vegetation indices at three radiometric correction levels,indicating the potential of vegetation indices at multiple radiometric correction levels in LAI inversion.The study demonstrates that taking heterogeneities of vegetation structures and uncertainties of radiometric corrections into account may help full mining of valuable information from remote sensing images,thus improving accuracies of LAI estimation.     

Status of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City

According to a survey for the urban vegetation of Guangzhou, urban vegetation has a significantly difference from natural vegetation because of intense human impacts. The research was conducted in a synthetic survey for soil, species diversity, roadside trees and ecological function of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City. The results showed that: (1) soil densities of urban roadside and park forests were higher than mean density of natural forest soil. The pH values of soil in urban roadside were higher too, and the content of organic matter and the concentration of nitrogen were lower. (2) Species diversity of urban vegetation was lower. The most number of species was only 16 species in tree layers of urban forest. (3) Tree growth was limited by narrow space in high-density urban area, where the trees with defects and disorders were common. (4) Comparing with mature natural forests, the productivity of urban vegetation was lower. The effect of urban vegetation on balance of carbon and oxygen were influenced by the low primary production of urban vegetation. Therefore, the growth condition for urban vegetation should be improved. Biodiversity, primary production and ecological function should be increased for urban vecletation in order to improve urban eco-environment.     

Osmoregulators in Hymenaea courbaril and Hymenaea stigonocarpa under water stress and rehydration

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different water deficiency and rehydration levels on the concentrations of osmoregulators in two plant species(Hymenaea courbaril and H. Stigonocarpa) in the Amazon. We adopted a 2×5×5 factorial system,referring to 2 species(H. courbaril and H. stigonocarpa)and 5 stages of hydration and rehydration. The five hydration and rehydration stages were established in:(1)Control treatment E0;(2) Plants with 13 days of stress after incubation—E13;(3) Plants with 26 days of stress E26;(4)The plants that were established after 26 days after incubation and rehydrated for two days(RD2);(5) rehydrated for two days(RD4). The plants that were established after 26 days after incubation and rehydrated for four days. The experiment totaled fifty young plants with five replicates.Biochemical measurements were performed at the beginning of the experiment(E0) at 13(E13) and 26(E26) days after the water stress, in which the plants were rehydrated,repeating the analyses after two(RD2) and four(RD4)days. Both species increased the sucrose concentration by18%, with a decrease of 52% in starch content. The RD4 time presented the highest mean starch concentration(0.19 mmol g-1 of the residue for H. courbaril and0.27 mmol g~(-1) of residue for H. stigonocarpa). Increased proline concentrations were recorded for controls until RD2 for both species. For glycine betaine, the highest increases in treatments E26 and RD2 were observed for the H. courbaril species. Our rehydration period was not sufficient for total recovery of pre-stress concentrations of all studied solutes.     

HPLC and Pattern Recognition for Identification of Four Species of Hongmu

Furniture of Hongmu,cream of Chinese culture,has a long history and enjoys great popularity for its classic appearance and elegant disposition. The traditional method of the identification is to evaluate the macro form and anatomical features.In this paper,a new method based on the differences among the chemical characteristics of biological metabolites of samples is developed.In the research, high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) fingerprints were employed to discriminate four species of Hongmu,including Pterocarpus indicus, Pterocarpus macarocarpus,Dalbergia melanoxylon, and Dalbergia louvelii.The results showed that, according to the retention time and relative peak area of different components in wood extracts,the distinction can be easily made between different species.Based on the HPLC fingerprints,similarities between samples were evaluated by correlation coefficients.The results were greater than 0.81 between the same species,and less than 0.21 between different species,which showed weak correlation between different species.In order to estimate the overall features of the fingerprints, hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis(PCA) were used and the results showed pronounced clustering effect among the same species.The investigation indicated that pattern recognition could accurately reflect the significant differences between different species of Hongmu, and can be used as a reference for quality control.     

Relationships between native tree species and soil properties in the indigenous forest fragments of the Eastern Arc Mountains of the Taita Hills,Kenya

The relationship between soil properties and spatial distribution of native woody species was studied in three Taita Hills forest fragments which, although degraded, are ranked among 34 biodiversity hotspots of the world due to their high biodiversity of both plant and animal species. This relationship was assessed by using Spearman correlation and principal component analyses (PCA). The results of these analyses should be useful in instituting forest restoration programs that are crucial for the forests. Both the soil and vegetation studied were sampled from 17 subplots in the natural forest fragments of Ngangao (120 ha), Chawia (86 ha) and Mbololo (185 ha). The soil variables measured were: pH, texture, soil nutrients of C, N, Ca, P, K, Mg and Na. In total 36 native tree species from 13 families were identified from the three forest fragments. Ordination results show that axis 1 accounted for 35% and axis 2 for 25% of the total variation in species composition, indicating that the structure of vegetation is related to two major environmental gradients. The correlation analyses of species and soil properties showed that Na and clay particles were the most important determinants of species distribution; pH and soil variables such as C, N, Ca and P also played minor roles. Unexpectedly, some species (e.g. Psychotria petitii) showed positive relationships with Na attributed to possible substitution for K. Relationships with P were both positive (e.g. Craibia zimmermannii) and negative (e.g. Albizia gummifera) with some species, attributable to pH levels. An ANOVA for soil variables showed that there were differences in the Ca content in Mbololo (due to the parent material) and P in Ngangao where a special relationship was observed between some of the species. The presence of gaps accounted for the distribution of seedlings but not for the saplings, whose distribution responded more to factors similar to those to which mature trees respond. Soil-species relationships that were established may be utilized along with soil analyses when choosing native species for restoration.     

Characteristics of soil seed bank in plantation forest in the rocky mountain region of Beijing, China

We investigated characteristics (scales and composition) of soil seed banks at eight study sites in the rocky mountain region of Beijing by seed identification and germination monitoring. We also surveyed the vegetation communities at the eight study sites to explore the role of soil seed banks in vegetation restoration. The storage capacity of soil seed banks at the eight sites ranked from 766.26 to 2461.92 seeds·m -2 . A total of 23 plant species were found in soil seed banks, of which 63 80% of seeds were herbs in various soil layers and 60% of seeds were located in the soil layer at 0 5cm depth. Biodiversity indices indicated clear differences in species diversity of soil seed banks among different plant communities. The species composition of aboveground vegetation showed low similarity with that based on soil seed banks. In the above- ground plant community, the afforestation tree species showed high importance values. The plant species originating from soil seed banks represented natural regeneration, which also showed relatively high importance values. This study suggests that in the rocky mountain region of Beijing the soil seed banks played a key role in the transformation from pure plantation forest to near-natural forest, promoting natural ecological processes, and the role of the seed banks in vegetation restoration was important to the improvement of ecological restoration methods.     

Estimating oak forest parameters in the western mountains of Iran using satellite-based vegetation indices

Remote sensing is an important tool for studying and modeling forest stands.Vegetation indices obtained from Landsat-8 remotely sensed data were used to estimate the forest parameters in the western mountains of Iran.Thirtyfour sample points were selected on the map of Bayangan County,Kermanshah province,Iran.At each point,a cluster of five rectangular plots of 8100 m2 and 200 m apart was established.Some clusters were primarily sampled to determine the variance of the forest parameters.The coefficient of variation was used as a criterion for sample allocation.Stand density,canopy cover and basal area per hectare were calculated for each plot.Vegetation indices were extracted fromthe Landsat-8 images for each plot.Simple linear and nonlinear regressions were conducted to develop the models.The models were validated using an independent data set.Stability of model parameters was statistically evaluated.The results showed that Normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)and Transformed normalized difference vegetation index(TNDVI)followed by Simple ratio vegetation index(SRVI)were the best predictors,explaining up to 91%of the variations with high precision.For NDVI,Soil adjusted vegetation index 2(SAVI2)and SRVI,the cubic model was more appropriate than the linear model for predicting the forest parameters.For this model,the R-square value increased while NRMSE decreased significantly.For Infrared percentage vegetation index(IPVI),the quadratic model was better,but,for other vegetation indices,nonlinear models were not superior to linear ones.Finally,it can be concluded that Landsat-8 imagery is suitable for predicting forest parameters in the oak forests of western Iran.Of course,large plots must be selected,and pre-classification is necessary to gain accurate and precise estimations.     

Floristic diversity, regeneration status, and vegetation structure of woodlands in Metema Area, Amhara National Regional State, Northwestern Ethiopia

We studied woodland vegetation in broad-leaved deciduous woodlands of Metema in northwestern Amhara regional state, Ethiopia Our objective was to describe plant species composition, diversity, regeneration status, and population structure by a selective approach with asystematic sampling design. A total of 74 quadrats (each for 25 m × 25 m,spaced at intervals of 150 200 m) were sampled along established transect lines following the homogeneity of the vegetation. Vegetation data including cover-abundance, height, diameter at breast height (DBH), and numbers of seedlings and saplings of woody species were analyzed using Excel spreadsheet, Shannon Weiner diversity index, and PAST version 1.62. A total of 87 vascular plant species of 74 genera and 36 families were recorded. The dominant family was Fabaceae represented by 16(18.39 %) species of 13 genera. Shannon Weiner diversity and evenness were 3.67 and 0.82, respectively, which showed that the area was endowed with rich floral diversity evenly distributed. The vegetation structure, as quantified by cumulative diameter class frequency distribution,plotted as an interrupted inverted-J-shape pattern with a sharp decreasein the 2nd diameter class. This indicated poor vegetation structure. The diameter classes frequency distributions of selected species plotted infour general patterns i.e., interrupted Inverted-J-shape, J-shape,Bell-shape and Irregular-shape. In conclusion, although the area showedhigh floral diversity and evenness, woody species including Sterculea setigera, Boswellia papyrifera, and Pterocarpus lucens showed lowest recruitment of seedlings and saplings.     

Vegetation structure and regeneration status of the moist,evergreen, afromontane Bore–Anferara–Wadera forest in southern Ethiopia

In a survey of the Bore–Anferara–Wadera forest to study the vegetation structure and regeneration status of woody plant species, 112 quadrats were systematically sampled along altitudinal transects to collect vegetation data. Nested sample plots of 30 m × 30 m and 5 m × 5 m were laid for collecting data on abundance and some variables of tree and shrub size. The regeneration status of woody species was assessed by counting all seedlings within the main sample plot. Woody plant species taller than or equal to 3 m were counted and their height and DBH measured. Density, frequency, basal area and importance value(IV) of woody plant species were computed. A total of 136 vascular plant species belonging to119 genera and 63 families were recorded. The overall Shannon—Wiener diversity value was 3.84 and evenness was 0.78. Total density of trees and shrubs with DBH >2 cm was 1047 ha-1. Size class distribution of woody species across different DBH and height classes indicated a relatively high proportion of individuals at lower classes,suggesting impacts of past anthropogenic disturbances.Analysis of population structure and regeneration status of the forest revealed various patterns of population dynamics where some species were represented by only a few mature plants, suggesting that they are on the verge of local extinction and that immediate conservation measures should be taken. The results highlight the need for joint management and conservation measures by the government, local people and other stakeholders to abate the rapid rate of deforestation and promote sustainable utilization of the forest resources in this forest in southern Ethiopia.     

小兴安岭山地沼泽湿地退化生态系统恢复技术研究

对不同干扰程度的山地沼泽湿地进行植被恢复与建设。研究表明:1)火烧和放牧中轻度干扰的灌丛沼泽和草本沼泽,采取封禁措施进行植被恢复效果很好,草本群落需要2 a的自然恢复就可以基本恢复到干扰前的状态,灌丛群落则需要较长的恢复时间。2)采矿强度干扰形成的退化湿地,应采取人工辅助方式进行植被建设。在选择的5种植物中,俄罗斯大果沙棘长势最好,保存率为100%,小叶锦鸡儿的保存率为88.23%,萱草的保存率为62.15%,紫穗槐和苜蓿全部死亡;在人工种植模式中,俄罗斯大果沙棘与小叶锦鸡儿行间配置模式效果最佳,俄罗斯大果沙棘与萱草行间配置模式、小叶锦鸡儿与萱草的配置模式效果较好。     

露天煤矿废弃地植被恢复过程中土壤理化性质及物种多样性特征

通过对公别拉河流域西岗子露天煤矿废弃地的土壤理化性质测定、物种多样性调查及植被恢复相关问题研究的结果表明：土壤容重和非毛管孔隙度：矸石坝〉农田〉湿地,其他物理性质指标：湿地〉农田〉矸石坝;在矸石坝、农田和湿地土壤中,全钾含量相差0．75～1．4倍,全磷、全氮含量相差5～10倍,有机质、速效磷、速效钾含量至少相差10倍,且矸石坝土壤中未检测出水解氮;有效养分低是矿山废弃地植被恢复的主要限制因素;选择沙棘作为研究区域内植被恢复的最佳灌木,草本则为本土先锋物种;建议在本研究区域内植被恢复采用灌丛为主、草本为辅的模式,并在植被恢复过程中要加强人工抚育和管理措施。     

河南黄土丘陵沟壑区造林树种选择与配置探讨

针对河南黄土丘陵沟壑区的生态环境以及土壤、地形等特点,探讨该区植被恢复与重建中树种选择的原则、不同立地类型区造林树种和主要树种配置模式。     

离子型稀土矿堆浸场地不同恢复年限植被多样性

生物群落多样性是判断生态系统稳定的重要指标,为了解人工建植对稀土矿废弃地生态系统的影响,以福建省长汀县离子型稀土矿堆浸废弃地为研究对象,利用植被恢复固定监测点,选取植被恢复5、8、11 a废弃地为样点,调查不同恢复年限样地物种种类和数量,分析稀土矿废弃地物种多样性随恢复时间的变化规律。结果表明:随植被恢复年限的增加,前期人工种植的植物逐渐被本土野生植物取代,增加物种以禾本科和菊科植物为主。乔木层、草本层植物种类和数量随恢复年限的增加而增加;随着植被恢复年限的增加,稀土矿废弃地乔木层物种丰富度(Gleason指数、Margalef指数)、Shannon指数逐渐增加,而乔木层、草本层Pielou均匀度指数则呈先增加后下降趋势;植被恢复8与11 a植被相似度最高,其次是植被恢复5与8 a,其中植被恢复11 a与对照样地植被相似度最低;Margalef指数、Simpson指数与Shannon指数呈显著相关。因此,随着植被恢复年限的增加,稀土矿生态退化区植被恢复前期人工干涉效应在逐渐降低,后期演变为自然演替,物种群落结构和种类发生变化,但与当地本土植物群落仍存在一定差异,表明生态退化区植被演替仍处于动态变化阶段。     

不同植被恢复模式地表径流与土壤贮水能力研究

于湖南省平江县选取针叶树种+一般阔叶树种混交林(M1)、针叶树种+珍贵阔叶树种混交林(M2)、珍贵阔叶树种(M3)等3种重建造林模式;于湖南省资兴市选取针叶树种+珍贵阔叶树种混交林(M6)、竹、乔混合经营(M7)、人工促进天然更新(M8)等3种恢复培育模式作为研究对象,定位观测研究不同模式径流产生特征与土壤持水能力。结果表明:造林模式M1、M2与M3的年地表径流量相差不大,其排序为CK1(73.07 mm)M3(66.47 mm)M2(62.51 mm)M1(61.74 mm)。培育模式M7、M6、M8的年径流量相差不大,排序为为M7(22.76 mm)M6(21.88 mm)M8(20.16 mm)。造林模式在30~40mm和≥50 mm降雨区间产流量较多,占全年径流的25.89%~30.42%。造林模式20~30 mm和≥50 mm降雨区间产流量较多,占全年径流的27.83%~35.09%。森林植被重建和恢复模式下产生径流量较对照小,说明森林植被重建和恢复有利于降低林地地表径流。     

Recovery of understory vegetation biomass and biodiversity in burned larch boreal forests in Northeastern China

Recovery of biomass and biodiversity of forest understory vegetation after fire disturbance has been widely studied; however, how this relationship changes and what are the determinants at different post-fire stages in larch boreal forests are still unclear. We investigated a chronosequence of 81 understory plots in larch boreal forests that were disturbed by fires in 1987 (S5), 1992 (S4), 1996 (S3), 2002 (S2), or 2007 (S1). Analysis of variance was conducted to test the differences of biodiversity and biomass among various post-fire stages. Different regression models were used to fit the relationship between biomass and biodiversity, while factors influencing this relationship were identified by boosted regression tree analysis. Results showed that total understory biomass increased from 2.51?t?ha^?1 in S1 to 8.47?t?ha^?1 in S3 and declined to 5?t?ha^?1 in S5. Similar dynamics were also found between species richness and species diversity. Positive linear correlations linked biomass and biodiversity throughout most of the post-fire periods. Slope and stand density were the two most important factors influencing the secondary succession of understory vegetation after fire. Geographical factors and overstory competition determine the orientation of vegetation recovery, and the impacts of climate on vegetation are muted after fire disturbances.     

川南几种竹种退耕还林植被恢复研究

本文用空间代时间的方法研究了长宁县竹林退耕还林在时间序列上的植被恢复特点。除毛竹外,和一般树种相比,竹类恢复为森林的时间较短,3 a~5 a即可成林。但竹种类型间成林速度存在差异,丛生竹成林最快,散生竹较慢。梁山慈竹和硬头黄竹退耕后可以一次成林,毛竹退耕可先进行农林复合经营直到群落郁闭。随着竹林的恢复,草本层生物量逐渐减少,地被物层生物量增加,各竹种新生个体的生态位逐渐扩大。人工栽植5 a的毛竹扩散规律研究结果表明,随着毛竹栽植时间的延伸,毛竹产生的新竹数目增多,个体变大,距离变远(170 cm),也存在大小年变化。人工促进竹林植被恢复速度明显较快。     

宝天曼自然保护区林火干扰下不同恢复阶段栎林群落幼苗库动态特征

依据空间代替时间的方法,研究地表火干扰下不同恢复阶段栎类群落幼苗库的动态特征。结果表明:在地表火干扰后栎林群落内有木本幼苗25科37属49种,随着火烧迹地植被的恢复,乔木幼苗种类数量增多,灌木幼苗数量减少,但栎类幼苗始终占据优势;林下幼苗库的密度随恢复时间增加逐步变小,栎类幼苗密度则呈现出从高到低再升高然后变低的趋势,栎类幼苗密度在火后1年最高,平均达到(2.30±2.9)株·(10 m²)^-1;林下幼苗库恢复1年与恢复10年之间、恢复15年和对照林的密度差异显著,但恢复1年与恢复5年、恢复10年的幼苗库与对照林的幼苗密度之间没有显著差异;栎类幼苗密度变化出现2个过程,恢复1年与恢复5年、恢复10年与恢复15年幼苗密度之间有显著差异,但不同恢复阶段的栎类幼苗库与对照林相比没有显著差异;幼苗库不同恢复阶段的Shannon-Wiener指数(H')之间有极显著差异;相邻恢复阶段共有的幼苗物种较多,相似系数较大,以每2种不同恢复阶段的栎林群落进行比较,其共有物种数量为4～17种。随演替时间的增加,乔木实生苗比例逐渐增加,乔木根蘖苗的比例不断减少,到植被恢复后5年,栎类群落林下没有发现根蘖苗生存,而林下灌木幼苗也在恢复10年的群落内消失。林火干扰对栎类Ⅰ、Ⅱ和Ⅲ级的幼苗高度分配和苗木转化率有显著影响,但火烧干扰对Ⅳ级以上幼苗的高度分布和转化率影响不显著。     

山黄麻在马关锌铟矿山废弃地不同植被恢复模式中的生态适应性研究

在对马关都龙镇锌铟矿山废弃地所设置的10种植被恢复配置模式试验所形成的群落进行植被调查和土壤养分测定的基础上,分析了山黄麻在各群落类型中的生长差异、分布与生态因子的相关性。结果表明,在该废弃地上,山黄麻迁入定居除受种子散布及植被恢复过程中草本层盖度影响外,能适应不同植物群落、不同土壤养分环境,其树高年均生长量为1.8 m,胸径的年均生长量达1.6 cm,树高和胸径的生长速度分级达速生水平,表现出对马关锌铟矿山废弃地较强的生态适应能力。山黄麻可作为马关锌铟矿山废弃地植被恢复初期的先锋树种加以利用。     

广东高要南部低丘桉树人工林下植被物种多样性分析

对广东高要南部低丘桉树（Eucalyptus spp．）人工林林下植被物种进行了调查分析。结果表明,林下植被物种最少有156种以上,分属56科和103属,乔木21种,灌木59种,藤本20种,草本36种,总体Shannon-Wiener指数为2．26。种群数目大于5％的优势种均为草本植物,其中芒箕（Dicranopteris dichotoma）占绝对优势（46．2％）,这是林下植被物种丰富度较高而多样性偏低的主要原因。林下植被物种组成、丰富度和多样性在不同地域之间均有显著的差异,但在林分龄级之间则没有明显的变化。