Effect of thinning intensity on understory herbaceous diversity and biomass in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests of Changbai Mountain

Forest Ecosystems

Mengjia Wu¹  Naiqian Guan¹  Yuwen Wang¹  Zhiyu Liu¹  Mo Zhou¹  Runhua Jiang¹  Gerong Wang¹  Fucai Xia¹  Yue Sun² 

[1] Key Laboratory of State Forestry Administration on Conservation and Efficient Utilization of Precious and Rare Forest Resource in Changbai Mountain, Forestry College, Beihua University, 132013, Jilin, China;West Campus of Hebei Agricultural University, 2596 Lekai South Street, Lianchi District, 071000, Baoding, China;

关键词: Selective thinning;    Mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests;    Herbaceous plants;    Diversity;    Biomass;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40663-021-00331-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHerbs are an important part of the forest ecosystem, and their diversity and biomass can reflect the restoration of vegetation after forest thinning disturbances. Based on the near-mature secondary coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest in Jilin Province Forestry Experimental Zone, this study analyzed seasonal changes of species diversity and biomass of the understory herb layer after different intensities of thinning.ResultsThe results showed that although the composition of herbaceous species and the ranking of importance values were affected by thinning intensity, they were mainly determined by seasonal changes. Across the entire growing season, the species with the highest importance values in thinning treatments included Carex pilosa, Aegopodium alpestre, Meehania urticifolia, and Filipendula palmata, which dominated the herb layer of the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest. The number of species, Margalef index, Shannon-Wiener index and Simpson index all had their highest values in May, and gradually decreased with months. Pielou index was roughly inverted “N” throughout the growing season. Thinning did not increase the species diversity. Thinning can promote the total biomass, above- and below-ground biomass. The number of plants per unit area and coverage were related to the total biomass, above- and below-ground biomass. The average height had a significantly positive correlation with herb biomass in May but not in July. However, it exerted a significantly negative correlation with herb biomass in September. The biomass in the same month increased with increasing thinning intensity. Total herb biomass, above- and below-ground biomass showed positive correlations with Shannon-Winner index, Simpson index and Pielou evenness index in May.ConclusionsThinning mainly changed the light environment in the forest, which would improve the plant diversity and biomass of herb layer in a short time. And different thinning intensity had different effects on the diversity of understory herb layer. The findings provide theoretical basis and reference for reasonable thinning and tending in coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests.

【 授权许可】

CC BY