Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2018, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (6): 619-628.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2018.0052

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Litter dynamics of evergreen deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests and its influential factors in Shennongjia, China

LIU Lu1,2,ZHAO Chang-Ming1,XU Wen-Ting1,SHEN Guo-Zhen1,XIE Zong-Qiang1,2,*()   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2018-03-01 Revised:2018-05-12 Online:2018-06-20 Published:2018-06-20
  • Contact: Zong-Qiang XIE
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the Frontier Science Key Research Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences(QYZDY-SSW-SMC011)

Abstract:

Aims Litter is an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. The dynamics of litter can reflect the stage of terrestrial ecosystems and the impact of environment on vegetation. Our objective was to explore the dynamics of litter production and standing crop in evergreen deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests and the underlying factors.

Methods During 2009-2015, we observed the litter production and the standing crop of a typical vegetation at Shennongjia, Hubei Province and analyzed their dynamics and relationships with meteorological factors.

Important findings 1) The results showed that the average annual litter production and standing crop were 5.94 t·hm-2 and 10.46 t·hm-2, respectively. Additionally, there was no remarkable inter-annual changing trend between 2009 and 2014, nevertheless a significant lower value appeared in 2015 with much more days of late spring coldness. 2) The seasonal dynamics presented double peaks, in March to May and October separately. 3) The monthly litter production was positively correlated with the monthly average air temperature of the previous 1-4 months, but negatively correlated with that in the 8th, 9th and 10th months before the month. In addition, it was negatively associated with the monthly average relative humidity of the 6th, 7th and 10th months before the month. 4) The average seasonality index of litter production was 0.032, which was strongly positively correlated with the annual average air temperature. We concluded that the phenomenon of long-term late spring coldness will affect annual litter production and standing crop significantly. The monthly average air temperature and relative humidity had significant lag effect on the seasonal dynamics of litter production, and the annual average air temperature had positive influence on the seasonality index of litter production in the major forest types in north subtropics.

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Key words: litter production, litter standing crop, lag effect, seasonality index, north subtropics