Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Woody debris stocks in different secondary and primary forests in the subtropical Ailao Mountains, southwest China

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

Woody debris (WD), including coarse woody debris (CWD) and fine woody debris (FWD), is an essential structural and functional component of many ecosystems, particularly in montane forests. CWD is considered to be the major part in forest WD and it is primarily composed of logs, snags, stumps and large branches, while FWD mainly consists of small twigs. Attributes of dead woody material may change in accordance with trends in stand dynamics. The primary forest (primary montane moist evergreen broad-leaved forest) in Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve (NNR) preserves the largest tract of natural vegetation in China. The Alnus nepalensis (D. Don) association, Populus bonatii (Levl.) association and secondary Lithocarpus association represent the secondary and chronological types following human disturbance by fires and logging under different intensity. The mass and composition of coarse woody debris (CWD, ≥10 cm in diameter) and fine woody debris (FWD, 2.5–10 cm in diameter) were inventoried in a primary forest and its three secondary counterparts. Estimates of total mass of woody debris across secondary types to primary forest ranged from 2.4 to 74.9 Mg ha−1. The lowest value was found in the A. nepalensis association and the highest values were in the primary forest of which logs are the considerable differences. The ratios of CWD to FWD were low in the secondary types (about 1–4) but high in the primary forest (above 15). Our results suggested that for the recovery of woody debris in the secondary forest, it might last longer than the age of the oldest successional stage studied.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Binham BB, Sawyer JO (1988) Volume and mass of decaying logs in an upland old growth forest. Can J For Res 18:1649–1651

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmona MR, Aravena JC, Pérez CA, Armesto JJ (2002) Coarse woody debris biomass in successional and primary temperate forests in Chiloé Island, Chile. For Ecol Manage 164:265–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen M, Hahn K, Mountford EP, Odor P, Standovár T, Rozenberger D, Diaci J, Wijdeven S, Meyer P, Winter S, Vrska T (2005) Dead wood in European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest reserves. For Ecol Manage 210:267–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowford RH, Li CY, Floyd M (1997) Nitrogen fixation in root-colonized large woody residue of Oregon coastal forests. For Ecol Manage 92:229–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delaney M, Brown S, Lugo AE, Torres-Lezama A, Quintero NB (1998) The quantity and turnover of dead wood in permanent forest plots in six life zones of Venezuela. Biotropica 30(1):2–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton JM, Lawrence D (2006) Woody debris stocks and fluxes during succession in a dry tropical forest. For Ecol Manage 232:46–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodburn JM, Lorimer CG (1998) Cavity trees and coarse woody debris in old-growth and managed northern hardwood forests in Wisconsin and Michigan. Can J For Res 28:427–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths RP, Harmon ME, Caldwell BA, Carpenter SE (1993) Acetylene reduction in conifer logs during early stages of decomposition. Plant Soil 148:53–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harmon ME, Franklin JF, Swanson FJ, Sollins P, Gregory SV, Lattin JD, Anderson NH, Cline SP, Aumen NG, Sedell JR, Lienkaemper GW, Cromack KJr, Cummins KW (1986) Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. Adv Ecol Res 15:133–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmon ME, Sexton J (1996) Guidelines for measurements of woody detritus in forest ecosystems. US Long-Term Ecological Research Network Office, University of Washington. Washington Publication, Seattle

  • Jin ZZ (1983) On the characteristics and nature of the evergreen broad-leaved forest in Xujiaba region of the Ailao Mountains (in Chinese with English abstract). In: Wu CY (eds) Research of forest ecosystems on Ailao Mountains, Yunnan. Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming, pp 204–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Li LH, Xing XR, Huang DM, Liu CD, He JY (1996) Storage and dynamics of coarse woody debris in Castanopsis eyrei Forest of Wuyi Mountain, with some considerations for its ecological effects (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Phytoecol Sinica 20(4):132–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Fox JED, Xu ZF (2000) Leaf litter decomposition of canopy trees, bamboo and moss in montane moist evergreen broad-leaved forest on Ailao Mountain, Yunnan, south-west China. Ecol Res 15(4):435–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu WY, Fox JED, Xu ZF (2002) Biomass and nutrient accumulation in montane evergreen broad-leaved forest (Lithocarpus xylocarpus type) in Ailao Mountains, SW China. For Ecol Manage 158:223–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maser CR, Anderson RG, Commack K, Williams JT, Martin RE (1979) Dead and down woody material. In: Thomas JW (eds) Wildlife habitats in managed forests: the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington, vol 553. USDA Agricultural Handbook, Washington, DC, pp 78–95

  • Means JE, MacMillan PC, Cromack K (1992) Biomass and nutrient content of Douglas-fir logs and other detrital pools in an old-growth forest, Oregon, USA. Can J For Res 22:1536–1546

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pyle C, Brown MM (1999) Heterogeneity of wood decay classes within hardwood logs. For Ecol Manage 114:253–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu XZ, Xie SC, Liu WY (1998) Studies on the forest ecosystem in Ailao Mountains, Yunnan (in Chinese with English summary). Yunnan Sciences and Technology Press, Kunming

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouvinen S, Kuuluvainen T, Karjalainen L (2002) Coarse woody debris in old Pinus sylvestris dominated forests along a geographic and human impact gradient in boreal Fennoscandia. Can J For Res 32:2184–2200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheng CY, Xie SC (1991) Studies on the growth regularity and the successional status of Populus bonatii in the Ailao Mountains (in Chinese with English abstract). J Southwest Forestry College 11(1):33–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Siitonen J, Martikainen P, Punttila P, Rauh J (2000) Coarse woody debris and stand characteristics in mature managed and old-growth boreal mesic forests in southern Finland. For Ecol Manage 128:211–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spies TA, Franklin JF, Thomas TB (1988) Coarse woody debris in Douglas-fir forests of western Oregon and Washington. Ecology 69:1689–1702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sturtevant BR, Bissonette JA, Long JN, Roberts DW (1997) Coarse woody debris as a function of age, stand structure, and disturbance in boreal Newfoundland. Ecol Appl 7:702–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tang XL, Zhou GY, Zhou X, Wen DZ, Zhang QM, Yin GC (2003) Coarse woody debris in monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forests of Dinghushan Nature Reserve (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Phytoecol Sinica 27:484–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang BR (1983) The dynamic analysis of evergreen broad-leaved forest in Xujiaba region of the Ailao Mountains (in Chinese with English abstract). In: Wu CY (eds) Research of forest ecosystems on Ailao Mountains, Yunnan. Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming, pp 151–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster CR, Jenkins MA (2005) Coarse woody debris dynamics in the southern Appalachians as affected by topographic position and anthropogenic disturbance history. For Ecol Manage 217:319–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodall CW, Nagel LM (2006) Coarse woody type: a new method for analyzing coarse woody debris and forest change. For Ecol Manage 227:115–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan ER, Wang XH, Huang JJ (2006) Concept and classification of coarse woody debris in forest ecosystems. Front Biol China 1:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • You CX (1983) Vegetation classification in the Xujiaba region of the AilaoShans (in Chinese with English abstract). In: Wu CY (eds) Research of forest ecosystems on Ailao Mountains, Yunnan. Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming, pp 74–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Young SS, Carpenter C, Wang ZJ (1992) A study of the structure and composition of an old growth and secondary broad-leaved forest in the Ailao Mountain of Yunnan, China. Mt Res Dev 12:269–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30470305), the Knowledge Innovation Program (No. KSXC2-YW-N-066) and the Program of Hundreds of Talent Scientists of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Management Authority of the Ailao Mountain Nature Reserve is thanked for granting permission for the research reported. We also wish to thank Mr. Yang Guoping Li Dawen, Li Changjun, Yang Wenzheng, and Luo Chengchang for their assistance in fieldwork.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China

    Yang Lipan, Liu Wenyao & Ma Wenzhang

  2. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Yang Lipan & Ma Wenzhang

  3. School of Environmental Biology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia

    Liu Wenyao

  4. Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650200, China

    Yang Lipan

Authors
  1. Yang Lipan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liu Wenyao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ma Wenzhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liu Wenyao.

Additional information

Yang Lipan and Ma Wenzhang contributed equally to this work.

About this article

Cite this article

Lipan, Y., Wenyao, L. & Wenzhang, M. Woody debris stocks in different secondary and primary forests in the subtropical Ailao Mountains, southwest China. Ecol Res 23, 805–812 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0442-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-007-0442-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation