Seedling Composition and Facilitative Effects of the Herbaceous Layer in a Monsoon-Affected Forest in Nanjenshan, Southern Taiwan
Resource
Taiwania, 55(4), 373-385
Journal
Taiwania
Journal Volume
55
Journal Issue
4
Pages
373-385
Date Issued
2010-12
Date
2010-12
Author(s)
Fan, S.W.
Hsieh, C.F.
Abstract
Tree seedlings play an important role in forest regeneration. To understand the factors that control seedling establishment, we (1) compared the composition patterns of tree seedlings and their corresponding overstories, (2) examined the relationships between seedling composition and environmental factors and (3) evaluated the interaction (competition or facilitation) between seedlings and herbaceous layer in a wind-stressed forest in Nanjenshan, southern Taiwan. In the study plot, seedling abundance of canopy, subcanopy and shrub species (with true leaves and < 1 cm diameter at breast height) and coverage of herbaceous species (including herbaceous species, climbers and tree ferns ? ca. 1 m in height) were investigated on three transects with a total of 180 contiguous 5 × 5 m quadrats. Clustering classification and ordination methods were used to reveal the tree seedling composition patterns and the relationships between seedling composition and environmental factors. Correlation coefficients were computed between herbaceous coverage and seedling abundance among herb-seedling species pairs and between tall (? 1 m high)/short (< 0.5 m high) herbs and seedlings pairs to test the herb-seedling interaction. The spatial distribution of tree seedlings presented a perfect match to the overstory vegetation pattern. There was a strong relationship among seedling composition, herbaceous composition and topographic features, especially exposure to monsoon winds. Because of the absence of strong correlations between herbaceous structure/species and seedling abundances, the strong linkage in spatial patterns between seedling and herbaceous compositions suggests that certain plant species in the study plot have similar responses to the monsoon exposure. Our results also indicated that seedlings < 1 cm in diameter were strongly influenced by wind stress, similar to the response of the overstory composition, and that the facilitative/competitive effects of the herbaceous layer on tree seedlings were relatively weak.
Subjects
森??新
種間交互作用
序?分析
?下植群
植群分層
forest regeneration
interspecific interaction
ordination
understory vegetation
vegetation layers
Type
journal article
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