Altitudinal zonation of forest vegetation on Mount Kerinci, Sumatra: with comparisons to zonation in the temperate region of east Asia

Abstract

The altitudinal zonation of forests on Mount Kerinci, Sumatra (3800 m) is described and compared with that in the temperate region of east Asia. Nine plots were selected between 1750 m in altitude and the upper limit of vegetation at 3250 m, at intervals of about 200 m in altitude. The plots are distinguished according to their main dominants, and the population structure of the dominant species is examined. The lower forests have species showing the whole range of size classes as well as solitary giants as dominants, but the upper forests lack these giants and are floristically poorer. Between 1750 m (the start of well preserved natural vegetation) and 2950 m (the forest limit) three forest zones are distinguished, and between 2950 and 3250 m a scrub zone. Upper forest zones tend to be dominated by species of the same genus or family which form important understory components of the zone below. Based on floristic comparisons with mountains of higher latitudes (i.e. Himalayas and Japan), the two lower forest zones (up to 2400 m) represent a subtropical zone, and the upper forest zone a warm-temperate zone. Climatic conditions at the forest limit on Mount Kerinci are similar to those at the latitudinal limit of warm-temperate evergreen trees; in the Himalayas the forest limit represents the latitudinal limit of the cool-temperate, and in Japan of the subarctic Altitudinal zonation patterns change with latitude, reaching their most complex on subtropical mountains where the two floristic realms, the Boreal and Palaeotropical, meet. A scheme for the pattern of vegetation zonation in east Asia is proposed.

Altitudinal Zonation of Montane Oak Forests Along Climate and Soil Gradients in Costa Rica

“…On Costa Rican as well as on Colombian neotropical mountains, the diurnal climate is much more pronounced than the yearly cycle. The average temperature in Chirripó's cool-humid montane oak forests depends principally on elevation, as temperature decreases with increasing altitude.A drop of 0.57°C per 100-m increase in altitude is concordant with values estimated for other tropical mountains (Ohsawa et al 1985;Walter 1985;Kitayama 1992). Sub-soil temperatures on Chirripó change with elevation, and reflect annual air temperatures.…”

A re-assessment of high elevation treeline positions and their explanation

“…Increasing precipitation and cloudiness tend to reduce treeline elevation. Ohsawa et al (1985) concluded that the``summer heat'' of higher latitudes is missing in the equatorial tropics and that the longer``season'' is not an adequate substitute for lower growth temperatures. Since these same factors also cause snowline elevation to decrease, there appears to be a common climatological reason for the parallel plateauing of the treeline and snowline curves in Fig.…”

Climate and vegetation in China V. Effect of climatic factors on the upper limit of distribution of evergreen broadleaf forest

“…This means that MMT is independent of K and P and is a stable index for explaining the upper distributional limit of evergreen broadleaf forest. Kira (1971Kira ( , 1977, Ohsawa et al (1985) and Hattori and Nakanishi (1985) interpreted the upward distribution of the forest using CI. Ohsawa et al (1985) explained the upper limit of forests in mountainous regions in Asia in terms of the mean temperature for the coldest month.…”

“…Kira (1971Kira ( , 1977, Ohsawa et al (1985) and Hattori and Nakanishi (1985) interpreted the upward distribution of the forest using CI. Ohsawa et al (1985) explained the upper limit of forests in mountainous regions in Asia in terms of the mean temperature for the coldest month. However, it was clear that the upper limit of the forest in mountainous regions in southwestern China could not be explained by either CI or mean temperature for the coldest month, as pointed out above.…”

“…First, the distributional limits can be interpreted by summation of temperature (Chi, 1958;Zhang, 1959;Suzuki, 1961;Kira, 1971; Editorial Committee for Vegetation of China, 1980;Hou, 1982). Second, the forest is delimited by a lower temperature (Kira, 1949(Kira, , 1977Sakai, 1976;Yim, 1977;Han, 1981;Zhou, 1981;Ohsawa et al, 1985;Woodward, 1987). Third, the distribution of the forest is determined by a combination of temperature and precipitation.…”