Branching pattern characteristics and anti-windbreakage ability of Pinus thunbergii in sandy coast

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00926

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Environment varies greatly along the sandy coast of China, as does the crown architecture of Pinus thunbergii. Our objective was to determine the adaptive relationship between the two, including the wind-breakage resistance of the branching pattern, in order to provide guidance for managing coastal protective forests.
Methods We studied three belt transects at 0-50, 200-250 and 400-450 m from the coastline (named transect I, II and III, respectively) in P. thunbergii forest in Lingshan Bay National Forest Park in Shandong from May to September 2009. In each belt transect, we used 20 m × 50 m samples to survey the length and angle of bifurcation, numbers of branches and percentage of dry branches. We imitated natural wind to analyze branch wind-breakage resistance in the different transects.
Important findings The branching pattern of P. thunbergii showed strong plasticity under different environment conditions. Crown architecture was asymmetrical in transects I and II due to the direction of prevailing wind. Average length and angle of bifurcation and branching numbers on the windward side in transect I were significantly smaller than those on the leeward side, while percentage of dry branches was significantly higher on the windward side. This trend weakened gradually with increasing distance from the coastline. In transect III, branch distribution was uniform in each quadrant and there was little difference in average length of bifurcation, average angle of bifurcation, branch numbers and percentage of dry branch among quadrants. Wind was the primary factor influencing the deflection of the branching angle, percentage of dry branches and crown asymmetry. In addition, the wind-breakage resistance of P. thunbergii branching in transect III is higher than that in transect I, and the relationship between imitated wind speed and the force needed was logistic.

Key words: branching pattern, environment gradient, Pinus thunbergii, sandy coast, wind-breakage resistance

ZHANG Dan, LI Chuan-Rong, XU Jing-Wei, LIU Li-Chuan, ZHOU Zhen, WANG Xiao-Lei, HUANG Chao. Branching pattern characteristics and anti-windbreakage ability of Pinus thunbergii in sandy coast[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2011, 35(9): 926-936.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00926

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2011/V35/I9/926

Figures/Tables 9

Table 1 General plot situation of Pinus thunbergii under different coastal gradients

测定指标 Testing indices	带I Transect I	带II Transect II	带III Transect III
平均年龄 Average age (a)	13	13	13
平均胸径 Average diameter at breast height (cm)	9.38	8.51	7.40
平均树高 Average height (cm)	204.0	286.0	348.8
平均枝下高 Average under branch height (cm)	122.0	110.0	85.6
平均上层冠幅 Average top layer crown (m²)	11.42	8.45	6.64
平均中层冠幅 Average mid layer crown (m²)	6.99	11.89	12.69
平均下层冠幅 Average bottom layer crown (m²)	5.78	10.75	13.20
林内相对风速 Relative wind speed within the forest (m·s^-1)	3.31	1.51	0.98

Table 2 Branching pattern indices of Pinus thunbergii under different coastal gradients (mean ± SD)

测定指标 Testing indices	带I Transect I	带II Transect II	带III Transect III
1级平均分枝长度 Average length of 1st bifurcation (cm)	45.12 ± 8.54^a	56.01 ± 5.34^b	65.30 ± 3.74^c
2级平均分枝长度 Average length of 2nd bifurcation (cm)	22.43 ± 4.94^a	33.08 ± 4.89^b	41.04 ± 4.16^c
3级平均分枝长度 Average length of 3rd bifurcation (cm)	11.29 ± 3.64^a	15.49 ± 3.47^b	18.40 ± 3.08^c
1级平均分枝角度 Average angle of 1st bifurcation (°)	74.26 ± 21.20^a	69.76 ± 8.39^a	74.41 ± 2.32^a
2级平均分枝角度 Average angle of 2nd bifurcation (°)	57.03 ± 12.60^a	52.27 ± 5.74^a	52.41 ± 2.87^a
3级平均分枝角度 Average angle of 3rd bifurcation (°)	42.59 ± 10.81^a	38.75 ± 5.09^a	36.86 ± 1.79^a
3级和2级平均枝直径比 Average ratio of branch diameter 3:2	0.79 ± 0.22^a	0.63 ± 0.18^a	0.62 ± 0.09^a
2级和1级平均枝直径比 Average ratio of branch diameter 2:1	0.74 ± 0.19^a	0.68 ± 0.06^a	0.65 ± 0.13^a
总体分枝率 Over all bifurcation ratio	0.33 ± 0.04^a	0.35 ± 0.06^a	0.38 ± 0.01^a
逐步分枝率 Stepwise bifurcation ratio 2:1	2.77 ± 0.30^b	2.70 ± 0.22^ab	2.51 ± 0.11^a
逐步分枝率 Stepwise bifurcation ratio 3:2	3.03 ± 0.21^b	2.92 ± 0.28^ab	2.67 ± 0.04^a

Fig. 1 Branching numbers of individual Pinus thunbergii in different quadrants under different coastal gradient. The east is 0° and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant in turn, antidockwise. From left to right on x-axis, that is transect I, II, III in turn. Transect I, Transect II, Transect III is apart from coastline 0-50, 200-250, 400-450 m, respectively.

Fig. 2 Percentage of branch dryrot of individual Pinus thunbergii in different quadrants under different coastal gradient (mean ± SD). The east is 0° and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant in turn, antidockwise. Transect I, Transect II, Transect III are apart from coastline 0-50, 200-250, 400-450 m, respectively. Different letters in the same line indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 level.

Fig. 3 Branching length of Pinus thunbergii in different quadrant under different coastal gradient (mean ± SD). The east is 0° and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant in turn, antidockwise. From left to right on x-axis, that is transect I, II, III in turn. Transect I, Transect II, Transect III are apart from coastline 0-50, 200-250, 400-450 m, respectively. Different letters indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 level.

Fig. 4 Branching angle of Pinus thunbergii in different quadrants under different coastal gradient gradient (mean ± SD). The east is 0° and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quadrant in turn, antidockwise. From left to right on x-axis, that is transect I, II, III in turn. Transect I, Transect II, Transect III is apart from coastline 0-50, 200-250, 400-450 m, respectively. Different letters indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 level.

Fig. 5 Relationship between imitated wind speed and branch rotated angle (mean ± SD). Transect I, Transect III is apart from coastline 0-50 and 400-450 m, respectively.

Fig. 6 Relationship between the force needed and branch rotated angle (mean ± SD). Transect I, Transect III is apart from coastline 0-50 and 400-450 m, respectively.

Table 3 Relationship between imitated wind speed and the force needed

	模型 Model	参数 Parameter				R²
带I Transect I	$y=\frac{a}{1+b\cdot e^{-cx}}$	a = 12.756 1	b = 6.676 3	c = 0.109 6		0.977 4
带III Transect III	$y=\frac{a}{1+b\cdot e^{-cx}}$	a = 17.806 9	b = 21.110 7	c = 0.164 4		0.990 3

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