Tropical monsoon forest in Yunnan with comparison to the tropical rain forest

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2011.00463

Abstract

Abstract:

In Chinese botanical literature, the term “tropical monsoon forest” is explained and used inconsistently and is often confused with tropical rain forest. My objective is to clarify differences between the two forests. Schimper defined tropical monsoon forest as being more or less leafless during the dry season and considered it a transitional vegetation type between tropical rain forest and savanna in terms of physiognomy and distribution. I compared tropical monsoon forest and rain forest in physiognomy, floristic composition and geographical elements to describe and characterize the monsoon forest in Yunnan, China. The tropical monsoon forest in Yunnan occurs mainly on river banks and in basins of several large rivers below 1 000 m altitude. The forest has one or two tree layers, and trees of at least the top layer are deciduous in the dry season. In life forms, the forest is rich in hemicryptophytes and relatively rich in geophytes and therophytes, but less rich in woody lianas and almost lacks megaphanerophytes and chamaephytes compared to tropical rain forest. In leaf size and form, the forest has more microphyllous leaves and compound leaves (24% and 44% of tree species, respectively) than tropical rain forest. In terms of floristic elements, the forest has a greater percentage of species of pantropic distribution (30% of the genera) and tropical Asia and tropical Africa disjunct distribution than tropical rain forest. Thus, the tropical monsoon forest in Yunnan has more diverse geographical elements in its flora and a complicated evolution history.

Key words: tropical monsoon forest, tropical rain forest, Yunnan

ZHU Hua. Tropical monsoon forest in Yunnan with comparison to the tropical rain forest[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2011, 35(4): 463-470.

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References 29

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生活型 Life form	热带雨林(低丘雨林) Tropical rain forest (lower hill seasonal rain forest) (0.4 hm²)		热带雨林(沟谷雨林) Tropical rain forest (ravine seasonal rain forest) (0.5 hm²)		季雨林 Monsoon forest (0.25 hm²)
生活型 Life form	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage
寄生植物 Parasitic plant	0	0%	1	0.4%	0	0%
附生植物 Epiphyte	7	4%	22	8.3%	0	0%
藤本高位芽植物 Liana phanerophyte	32	18.3%	61	20.3%	12	16.7%
大高位芽植物 Megaphanerophyte	17	9.7%	19	7.2%	1	1.4%
中高位芽植物 Mesophanerophyte	49	28%	72	27.1%	20	27.8%
小高位芽植物 Microphanerophyte	27	15.4%	23	12.1%	4	5.6%
矮高位芽植物 Nanophanerophyt	17	9.7%	22	8.3%	10	13.9%
草本高位芽植物 Herbaceous phanerophyte	8	4.6%	11	4.2%	3	4.2%
地上芽植物 Chamaephyte	15	8.6%	20	7.5%	1	1.4%
地面芽植物 Hemicryptophyte	0	0%	0	0%	12	16.7%
地下芽植物 Geophyte	3	1.9%	5	1.9%	5	7.0%
一年生植物 Therophyte	0	0%	0	0%	4	5.6%
合计 Total	175	100%	260	100%	72	100%

生活型 Life form	热带雨林(低丘雨林) Tropical rain forest (lower hill seasonal rain forest) (0.4 hm²)		热带雨林(沟谷雨林) Tropical rain forest (ravine seasonal rain forest) (0.5 hm²)		季雨林 Monsoon forest (0.25 hm²)
生活型 Life form	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage
寄生植物 Parasitic plant	0	0%	1	0.4%	0	0%
附生植物 Epiphyte	7	4%	22	8.3%	0	0%
藤本高位芽植物 Liana phanerophyte	32	18.3%	61	20.3%	12	16.7%
大高位芽植物 Megaphanerophyte	17	9.7%	19	7.2%	1	1.4%
中高位芽植物 Mesophanerophyte	49	28%	72	27.1%	20	27.8%
小高位芽植物 Microphanerophyte	27	15.4%	23	12.1%	4	5.6%
矮高位芽植物 Nanophanerophyt	17	9.7%	22	8.3%	10	13.9%
草本高位芽植物 Herbaceous phanerophyte	8	4.6%	11	4.2%	3	4.2%
地上芽植物 Chamaephyte	15	8.6%	20	7.5%	1	1.4%
地面芽植物 Hemicryptophyte	0	0%	0	0%	12	16.7%
地下芽植物 Geophyte	3	1.9%	5	1.9%	5	7.0%
一年生植物 Therophyte	0	0%	0	0%	4	5.6%
合计 Total	175	100%	260	100%	72	100%

	热带雨林(低丘雨林) Tropical rain forest (lower hill seasonal rain forest) (0.4 hm²)		热带雨林(沟谷雨林) Tropical rain forest (ravine seasonal rain forest) (0.5 hm²)		季雨林 Monsoon forest (0.25 hm²)
	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage
小叶 Microphyll	18	19.4%	18	16.1%	6	24.0%
中叶 Mesophyll	69	74.2%	83	74.1%	17	68.0%
大叶 Macrophyll	6	6.5%	10	8.9%	2	8.0%
单叶 Simple leaves	68	73.1%	85	76.6%	14	56.0%
复叶 Compound leaves	25	26.9%	26	23.4%	11	44.0%
常绿植物 Evergreen plant	84	90.3%	105	94.6%	9	36.0%
落叶植物 Deciduous plant	9	9.7%	6	5.4%	16	64.0%
乔木总种数 Total tree species	93		111		25

	热带雨林(低丘雨林) Tropical rain forest (lower hill seasonal rain forest) (0.4 hm²)		热带雨林(沟谷雨林) Tropical rain forest (ravine seasonal rain forest) (0.5 hm²)		季雨林 Monsoon forest (0.25 hm²)
	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数Percentage	种数 No. of species	百分数 Percentage
小叶 Microphyll	18	19.4%	18	16.1%	6	24.0%
中叶 Mesophyll	69	74.2%	83	74.1%	17	68.0%
大叶 Macrophyll	6	6.5%	10	8.9%	2	8.0%
单叶 Simple leaves	68	73.1%	85	76.6%	14	56.0%
复叶 Compound leaves	25	26.9%	26	23.4%	11	44.0%
常绿植物 Evergreen plant	84	90.3%	105	94.6%	9	36.0%
落叶植物 Deciduous plant	9	9.7%	6	5.4%	16	64.0%
乔木总种数 Total tree species	93		111		25