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Multiple-factor classification of a human-modified forest landscape in the Hsuehshan Mountain Range, Taiwan

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Abstract

Human actions drive landscape heterogeneity, yet most ecosystem classifications omit the role of human influence. This study explores land use history to inform a classification of forestland of the Tayal Mrqwang indigenous people of Taiwan. Our objectives were to determine the extent to which human action drives landscape heterogeneity. We used interviews, field sampling, and multivariate analysis to relate vegetation patterns to environmental gradients and human modification across 76 sites. We identified eleven forest classes. In total, around 70 % of plots were at lower elevations and had a history of shifting cultivation, terrace farming, and settlement that resulted in alder, laurel, oak, pine, and bamboo stands. Higher elevation mixed conifer forests were least disturbed. Arboriculture and selective harvesting were drivers of other conspicuous forest patterns. The findings show that past land uses play a key role in shaping forests, which is important to consider when setting targets to guide forest management.

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Abbreviations

EBLF:

Evergreen broad-leaved forest

KMT:

Kuomintang government

DBH:

Diameter at breast height

LAI:

Leaf area index

TRMI:

Topographic relative moisture index

IMV:

Importance value

NMS:

Nonmetric multidimensional scaling

MRPP:

Multi-response permutation procedure

ISA:

Indicator species analysis

V:

Vegetation type

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Acknowledgments

We offer special thanks to the families of Smangus village for their tremendous hospitality and generosity in terms of time, resources, and knowledge. Financial support for the research was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) CGS-D and MSFSS graduate scholarships to K.J. Berg, and research grants to S.G. Newmaster from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Many thanks to the staff at the Herbarium of the Research Center for Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei (HAST) for specimen identifications. We would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Shih-Yuan Lin for GIS support, Yi-Ling Huang for translation work, and Hsin-Han Wang and Jodi Vander Woude for research assistance. We also extend our deep appreciation to two anonymous reviewers of the original manuscript for their thoughtful and constructive reviews.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Integral Ecology Group, Ltd., #201 - 330, Duncan Street, Duncan, BC, V9L 3W4, Canada

    Kevan J. Berg

  2. Smangus Community, Yufeng Village, Jianshi, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Lahuy Icyeh

  3. Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine (GIHM), Taipei Medical University, No. 250, Wuxing St, Xinyi District, Taipei, 110, Taiwan

    Yih-Ren Lin

  4. Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA), Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Arnold Janz

  5. Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Steven G. Newmaster

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  1. Kevan J. Berg
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Correspondence to Kevan J. Berg.

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Berg, K.J., Icyeh, L., Lin, YR. et al. Multiple-factor classification of a human-modified forest landscape in the Hsuehshan Mountain Range, Taiwan. Ambio 45, 919–932 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0794-5

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