Title: Comparison of forest structure and floristic composition of coniferous forest in Helan Mountain
Abstract:Coniferous forest in Helan Mountain is the relatively rare forest ecosystem in northwestern China.For the conservation of forest,the structure and floristic composition of coniferous forest have been ...Coniferous forest in Helan Mountain is the relatively rare forest ecosystem in northwestern China.For the conservation of forest,the structure and floristic composition of coniferous forest have been studied.Based on principal components analysis of forest structure,mainly four kinds of forest could be obtained,that is diameter at breast height(DBH) of trees mostly less than 10 cm,DBH of trees mostly between 10 and 20 cm,DBH of trees distributed approximally equally and DBH of trees mostly greater than 30 cm.The result mainly reflected the times after prohibition of logging,and also indictated the effects imposed by altitude.Based on TWINSPAN analysis of species composition,six plant associations could be found,which were mainly influenced by altitude.The species density in spruce-moss forest was the minimum in the whole coniferous forest.Ascending from spruce-moss forest,the forest disappeared gradually and overlapped with alpine bushes and meadow,with species density increasing.Decreasing with altitude,the floristic composition changed and species density increased.Down to the lowest pine forest,the species was most abundant.The comparison of the classification of forest structure with that of species composition indicated that,though the criteria of analyses were different and the features of forest were viewed from different sides,there existed some inherent relations between foreset structure and floristic composition.The forest structure and species composition were all mainly influenced by altitude.When the forest structures were similar,several plant associations could be found,but one assicoation always belonged to single forest structural type.Read More
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-03-25
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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