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Impacts of reforestation on woody species composition, species diversity and community structure in dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River, southwestern China

  • Mountain Environment
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Abstract

To understand the impacts of reforestation on woody species composition, species diversity and community structure, seven plantation forests in dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River in Southwest China were investigated, with adjacent wastelands, natural shrub grassland and a natural forest as references. Species importance value, species richness, species heterogeneity and Sorenson similarity index between plantations and the natural forest were analyzed. Results indicated that compared to wastelands and natural shrub grassland, reforestation improved species diversity and community structure, and more forest woody species found suitable habitats in plantations. Species diversity in understory of plantations and Sorenson similarity index were significantly negatively correlated with stem density in mature plantations (26-31 years old). Higher species diversity and Sorenson similarity index existed in mature sparse plantations due to lower stem density and more tree species planted initially. In contrast, reference natural forest, with species heterogeneity of 2.28 for shrub layer, showed the highest species diversity. It would take a long time for species composition and diversity to recover through reforestation in a dry-hot valley. Therefore, it was essential to protect remnant natural forests strictly and reforest with suitable management such as lower stem density and increasing genetic diversity of trees planted.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported financially by the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (B08037). We thank the Bureau of Forestry of Ningnan County, Sichuan Province, China for support in field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environment, College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Zhi-lian Gong & Ya Tang

  2. Department of Environment Engineering, College of Energy and Environment, Xihua University, Chengdu, 610039, China

    Zhi-lian Gong

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  1. Zhi-lian Gong
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  2. Ya Tang
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Correspondence to Ya Tang.

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http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9945-0340

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7552-4181

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Impacts of reforestation on woody species composition, species diversity and community structure in dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River, southwestern China

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Gong, Zl., Tang, Y. Impacts of reforestation on woody species composition, species diversity and community structure in dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River, southwestern China. J. Mt. Sci. 13, 2182–2191 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-015-3449-2

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