Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Forest Ecology pp 67–75Cite as

Dendroecological study of a subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) forest in the Qinling Mountains, China

  • Chapter

  • 2541 Accesses

Abstract

Dendroecological techniques were used to investigate the stand dynamics and the disturbance history of the subalpine fir forest in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province, China. The results indicated that 68% of the fir trees experienced 1–2 release events for a total of 10–29 (an average of 15.8) years, and 1–2 suppression events for a total of 10–27 (an average of 13.4) years before they reached canopy. Large number of Abies fargesii and Betula albosinensis recruitment coincided temporally with larger increases in the ring-width index from the 1830s to 1880s, suggesting occurrence of a major stand-wide disturbance during this time period. Few seedlings and saplings were found in the forest, and there was a dramatic decline in recruitment after 1890, probably because of the intensive cover of understory umbrella bamboo (Fargesia spathacea). Radial growth analyses indicated frequent canopy opening resulting from small-scale disturbances in the forest. Thus, the subalpine fir forest experienced frequent small-scale disturbances and infrequent large-scale disturbances in its developmental history, and these disturbances coupled with the understory umbrella bamboo might have influenced tree growth and species recruitment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abrams MD, Nowacki GJ (1992) Historical variation in fire, oak recruitment, and post-logging accelerated succession in central Pennsylvania. Bull Torrey Bot Club 119:19–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrams MD, Orwig DA (1995) Structure, radial growth dynamics and recent climatic variations of a 320-year-old Pinus rigida rock outcrop community. Oecologia 101:353–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrams MD, Orwig DA (1996) A 300-year history of disturbance and canopy recruitment for co-occurring white pine and hemlock on the Allegheny Plateau USA. J Ecol 84:353–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrams MD, Orwig DA, DeMeo TE (1995) Dendroecological analysis of successional dynamics for a presettlement-origin white-pine-mixed-oak forest in the southern Appalachians, USA. J Ecol 83:123–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrams MD, Copenheaver CA, Terazawa K, Umeki K, Takiya M, Akashi N (1999) A 370-year dendroecological history of an old-growth Abies-Acer-Quercus forest in Hokkaido, northern Japan. Can J For Res 29:1891–1899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrams MD, Copenheaver CA, Black BA, van de Gevel S (2001) Dendroecology and climatic impacts for a relict, old-growth, bog forest in the Ridge and Valley Province of central Pennsylvania USA. Can J Bot 79:58–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron Y, Denneler B, Charron D, Girardin MP (2002) Using dendrochronology to reconstruction disturbance and forest dynamics around Lake Duparquet, northwestern Quebec. Dendrochronologia 20:175–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao KF, Ohkubo T (1999) Suppression and release during canopy recruitment in Fagus crenata and Acer mono in two old-growth beech forests in Japan. Plant Ecol 145:281–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen MR (1983) Climate and agriculture in the Qinling Mountains. Shaanxi People’s Press, Xi’an (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cottam G, Curtis JT (1956) The use of distance measures in phytosociological sampling. Ecology 37:451–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Druckenbrod DL (2005) Dendroecological reconstructions of forest disturbance history using time-series analysis with intervention detection. Can J For Res 35:868–876

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster DR (1988) Disturbance history, community organization and vegetation dynamics of the old-growth Pisgah Forest, south-western New Hampshire USA. J Ecol 76:105–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin JF, Maeda T, Oshumi T, Matsui M, Yagia H, Hawk GM (1979) Subalpine coniferous forests of central Honshu, Japan. Ecol Monogr 49:311–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frelich LE (2002) Forest dynamics and disturbance regimes: studies from temperate evergreen-deciduous forests. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree Rings and Climate. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC, Swetnam TW (1989) Dendroecology: a tool for evaluating variations in past and present forest environments. Adv Ecol Res 19:111–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiot J, Goeury C (1996) PPPBASE, a software for statistical analysis of paleoecological and paleoclimatological data. Dendrochronologia 14:295–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry JD, Swan JMA (1974) Reconstructing forest history from live and dead plant material—an approach of the study of forest succession in southwest New Hampshire. Ecology 55:772–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiura T, Sano J, Konno Y (1996) Age structure and response to fine scale disturbance of Abies sachalinensis, Picea jezoensis, Picea glehnii, andBetula ermanii growing under the influence of a dwarf bamboo understory in northern Japan. Can J For Res 26:289–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree-ring Bulletin 43:69–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Holz CA, Veblen TT (2006) Tree regeneration responses to Chusquea montana bamboo die-off in a subalpine Nothofagus forest in the southern Andes. J Veg Sci 17:19–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson EA, Miyanishi K, Kleb H (1994) The hazards of interpretation of static age structures as shown by stand reconstructions in a Pinus contorta-Picea engelmannii forest. J Ecol 82:923–931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama T (1984) Regeneration and coexistence of two Aibes species dominating subalpine forests in central Japan. Oecologia 62:156–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorimer CG, Frelich LE (1989) A methodology for estimating canopy disturbance frequency and intensity in dense temperate forests. Can J For Res 19:651–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClaran MP, Bartolome JW (1989) Fire-related recruitment in stagnant Quercus douglasii populations. Can J For Res 19:580–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta R, Nola P, Piussi P (1999) Structure and stand development in three subalpine Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) stands in Paneveggio (Trento, Italy). Glob Ecol Biogeogr 8:455–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakashizuka T (1991) Population dynamics of coniferous and broad-leaved trees in a Japanese temperate mixed forest. J Veg Sci 2:413–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namikawa K (1996) Stand dynamics during a 12 year period in an old-growth, cool temperate forest in northern Japan. Ecol Res 11:23–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North M, Chen J, Oakley B, Song B, Rudnicki M, Gray A, Innes J (2004) Forest stand structure and pattern of old-growth western Hemlock/Douglas-fir and mixed-conifer forests. For Sci 50:299–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowacki GJ, Abrams MD (1994) Forest composition, structure, and disturbance of the Alan Seeger Natural Area, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Bull Torrey Bot Club 121:277–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowacki GJ, Abrams MD (1997) Radial-growth averaging criteria for reconstructing disturbance histories from presettlement-origin oaks. Ecol Monogr 67:225–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver CD, Stephens EP (1977) Reconstruction of a mixed forest in central New England. Ecology 58:562–572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996) Forest Stand Dynamics (update edition). John Wiley and Sons Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Orwig DA, Abrams MD (1999) Impacts of early selective logging on the dendroecology of an old-growth, bottomland hemlock-white pine-northern hardwood forest on the Allegheny Plateau. J Torrey Bot Soc 126:234–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rathgeber C, Roche P (2003) Spatio-temporal growth dynamics of a subAlpine Pinus uncinata stand in the French Alps. C R Biol 326:305–315

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ren Y (1998) Vegetation of Giant Panda’s Habitat of the Qinling Mountains. Shaanxi Science and Technology Press, Xi’an (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber FH, Eckstein D, Serre-Bachet F, Braker OU (1990) Identification, presentation and interpretation of event years and pointer years in dendrochronology. Dendrochronologia 8:9–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AH, Qin ZS (1988) Regeneration patterns in old-growth Abies-Betula forests in the Wolong Natural Reserve, Sichuan, China. J Ecol 76:1204–1218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AH, Qin ZS (1992) Tree regeneration after bamboo die-back in Chinese Abies-Betula forests. J Veg Sci 3:253–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor AH, Qin ZS, Liu J (1996) Structure and dynamics of subalpine forests in the Wang Lang Natural Reserve, Sichaun, China. Vegetatio 124:25–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veblen TT, Hadley KS, Reid MS, Rebertus AJ (1989) Blowdown and stand development in a Colorado subalpine forest. Can J For Res 19:1218–1225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veblen TT, Hadley KS, Reid MS (1991) Disturbance and stand development of a Colorado subalpine forest. J Biogeogr 18:707–716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veblen TT, Hadley KS, Nel EM, Kitzberger T, Reid MS, Villalba R (1994) Disturbance regime and disturbance interactions in a Rock Mountains subalpine forest. J Ecol 82:125–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villalba R, Veblen TT (1997) Improving estimates of total tree ages based on increment cores samples. EcoSceince 4:535–542

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang CW (1961) The Forests of China with a Survey of Grassland and Desert Vegetation. Maria Moors Cabot Foundation, Harvard University, Publication Series 5

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi DK (1991) A simple method for cross-dating increment cores from living trees. Can J For Res 21:414–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue M, Ren Y, Dang GD, Gu TQ (1999) Species diversity of higher plant communities in Foping Nature Reserve. Chinese Biodiversity 7:263–369 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YQ (1989) Shaanxi Forest. Xi’an Science and Technology Press, Xi’an (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Haishan Dang, Mingxi Jiang, Yanjun Zhang & Quanfa Zhang

  2. Foping National Nature Reserve, 723400, Foping, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Gaodi Dang

Authors
  1. Haishan Dang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mingxi Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yanjun Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gaodi Dang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Quanfa Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Quanfa Zhang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, 141 Bessey Hall, 50011-1020, Ames, IA, USA

    A. G. Van der Valk

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dang, H., Jiang, M., Zhang, Y., Dang, G., Zhang, Q. (2008). Dendroecological study of a subalpine fir (Abies fargesii) forest in the Qinling Mountains, China. In: Van der Valk, A.G. (eds) Forest Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2795-5_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation