Environmental patterns and gradients in the vascular plants and bryophytes of eastern Fennoscandian herb-rich forests

Hokkanen, Päivi J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2006.03.025

Cited by 40 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Soil pH and OM were the second most important environmental factors associated with the distribution of vegetation in subtropical mountain forests, as found previously [61][62][63]. Acid trees, such as V. bracteatum, L. confinis, and H. sinensis [20] formed abundant patches in plots with a low pH value and high OM value, and acidulous trees, such as M. azedarach, S. hookeri, and Toona ciliata were found in RVMF with a high dominance value and a low OM value.…”

Section: Topographical and Edaphic Impact On Tree Species Distributionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Effects of Topographical and Edaphic Factors on Tree Community Structure and Diversity of Subtropical Mountain Forests in the Lower Lancang River Basin

Changshun

Chen

et al. 2016

Forests

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Abstract:We investigated community structure and tree species diversity of six subtropical mountain forests in relation to 11 topographical and edaphic factors in Lower Lancang River Basin, Yunnan Province, China, based on a census of all trees with diameter at breast height ≥5 cm in 45 0.06-ha plots. The forests were as follows: a river valley monsoon forest, semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forest, monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, mid-mountain humid evergreen broad-leaved forest, summit mossy dwarf forest, and warm needle-leaved forest. Owing to the variation in microenvironment, forest structure (tree density, mean height, mean diameter at breast height, mean basal area at breast height) and tree diversity indices (the number of species, Margalef richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson's index, and Pielou's evenness) differed significantly among forest types but did not differ among sites. We recorded a total of 5155 canopy trees belonging to 204 tree species, 104 genera, and 50 families at three sites, and the co-occurrence of tree species between adjacent communities was higher. A clear forest community distribution along an altitudinal gradient suggested that elevation was important in tree species distribution. Ordination identified elevation, slope degree, slope position, soil pH, organic matter, total nitrogen, and available nitrogen as significant explanatory variables of tree species distribution and showed that elevation was more important than the rest of the environmental variables in affecting local woody plant distribution. Understanding relationships between tree species distribution and environmental factors in subtropical mountain forests of the Lower Lancang River Basin would enable us to apply these findings to forest management and vegetation restoration.

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Section: Topographical and Edaphic Impact On Tree Species Distributionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Effects of Topographical and Edaphic Factors on Tree Community Structure and Diversity of Subtropical Mountain Forests in the Lower Lancang River Basin

Changshun

Chen

et al. 2016

Forests

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“…The Ca-rich soils in the study area were characterised by high Mg, pH, and EC b , and by low Al, C:N, S, and Zn. Hokkanen (2006) studied vegetation and soil of herb-rich forests in Southern Finland and found that the most important soil variable affecting vegetation composition was soil water content, followed by Ca and N for bryophytes and Mg for vascular plants. Our results agree on the importance of soil Ca and Mg, but we found the relationship between vegetation composition and soil water content to be surprisingly low.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some classifications focus on these variables, ignoring many others such as changes in tree and understory composition along with succession. Forest vegetation patterns and relationships between vegetation composition and fertility have been studied earlier especially in southern Finland (Kuusipalo 1985;Lahti and Väisä-nen 1987;Nieppola and Carleton 1991;Hokkanen 2006), whereas studies in which Finnish Lapland is included do not contain detailed soil variables (Oksanen 1983;Tonteri et al 1990). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of soil calcium for composition of understory vegetation in boreal forests of Finnish Lapland

et al. 2010

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To focus conservation efforts into forest areas with high biodiversity, more information is needed about soil-vegetation dependencies in Finnish Lapland. We studied understory vegetation and soil variables along a transect across a felsic-mafic lithological sequence in central Finnish Lapland. At 119 northern boreal forest sites, coverages of understory vegetation, several mineral soil chemical elements, soil electrical conductivity, pH, and dielectric permittivity, as a measure of soil volumetric water content, were measured. We found that soil Ca concentration and Ca:Al ratio were the main variables determining vegetation composition and diversity. Ca-rich soils were characterised by high electrical conductivity, pH, and Mg concentration, and by low concentration of Al, S, Zn, and low C:N ratio. Soil Ca concentration is a diagnostic measure of plant diversity as concentration higher than 100 mg kg -1 resulted in a considerable increase in plant diversity. Sites with Ca concentration this high were rare, and probably important in maintaining high biodiversity. The median soil Ca:Al ratio was only 0.02, suggesting, according to general theory, a considerable risk for aluminium stress. We found Geranium sylvaticum and Rubus saxatilis to be good indicators for Ca-rich regimes and high plant diversity.

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“…CCA results showed that most shrubs species distributed in the left of Axis 2, such as Lespedeza bicolor, and Rubus rosaefolius, suggesting that these species survive in habitats with relatively higher elevation. In addition to elevation, soil nutrition also played an important role in plant distribution (Hokkanen, 2006;Cao et al, 2009). Most herbs species located in the left of Axis 2, such as Carex tristachya, and Matteuccia orientalis, suggesting that these species usually lived in habitat with relatively lower organic matter and total nitrogen.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing Effect of Larch Plantations (Larix Kaempferi) on Understory Plant Diversity in a Sub-Tropical Forest Ecosystem, China

Li¹

2016

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract. We evaluated effects of larch plantations on understory plant diversity by conducting large-area investigations on three types of tree stands, including pure larch plantations (Larix kaempferi, an exotic coniferous deciduous tree species), pure liriodendron plantations (Liriodendron chinense, a native broad-leaved deciduous tree species) and mixed stands (L. kaempferi and L. chinense) in a subtropical forest. A total of 19 plantation areas, 684 quardrats, and 10 environmental factors [elevation, slope, ratio of light availability (RLA), soil pH, soil water content (SWC), soil organic matter (SOM), soil total nitrogen (STN), soil total phosphorus (STP), soil total potassium (STK)] were surveyed. Species richness and Shannon's diversity were statistically similar in the three types of tree stands but Shannon's diversity was somewhat higher in mixed plantations. Environmental conditions were similar in the three types of tree stands (P﹥0.05). Species richness and Shannon's diversity increased with increasing elevation and understory light availability (P<0.05). Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that distribution of shrubs was determined by elevation, while herb distribution was related primarily to soil fertility followed by elevation. Based on the unchanged environmental conditions after establishment of larch plantations, we conclude that larch plantations had balancing effect on understory plant diversity.

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Environmental patterns and gradients in the vascular plants and bryophytes of eastern Fennoscandian herb-rich forests

Cited by 40 publications

References 27 publications

Effects of Topographical and Edaphic Factors on Tree Community Structure and Diversity of Subtropical Mountain Forests in the Lower Lancang River Basin

Effects of Topographical and Edaphic Factors on Tree Community Structure and Diversity of Subtropical Mountain Forests in the Lower Lancang River Basin

Importance of soil calcium for composition of understory vegetation in boreal forests of Finnish Lapland

Balancing Effect of Larch Plantations (Larix Kaempferi) on Understory Plant Diversity in a Sub-Tropical Forest Ecosystem, China

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