Spatial difference and regularity of seed dispersal of Ulmus macrocarpa in Horqin Sandy Land, China

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00747

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Ulmus macrocarpa is a typical anemochorous plant. It can form mono-dominant woodland in Keerqin Sandy Land, China. Our objectives were to investigate seed-fall characteristics of U. macrocarpa in the understory and away from both the woodland edges and isolated trees at different distances in different compass directions, and to illustrate the underlying mechanisms of seed dispersal in U. macrocarpa.
Methods In mid June 2011, we investigated seed dispersal after seeds fall in a nature reserve of U. macrocarpa woodland in Tongyu County in western Jilin Province. The woodland is about 50 km²in area which has nearly primitive landscape appearance. The seed density of U. macrocarpa was randomly sampled in the understory and orderly sampled at 1 m intervals from the tree bases away from the woodland edges and isolated trees along vertical sections of different directions. The quadrat was 50 cm × 50 cm in area. Differences in the seed density among the understory and parallel sections of different distance away from the woodland edges were tested by one-way ANOVA. Two types of density functions of theoretical distribution were used to reflect the patterns of seed dispersal away from seed sources along vertical sections of different directions.
Important findings The understory of U. macrocarpa had the highest mean seed density. The mean seed density was significantly reduced at 3 m away from the woodland edges, and it decreased exponentially with increasing in distance away from the woodland edges. We observed the highest cumulative seeds per unit area in the northeast direction; whereas the lowest numbers in the southwest and west directions, which may attribute to a high frequency of southerly winds. The pattern of seed dispersal matched the Weibull and Log-normal distributions (χ²₍_α₎< 0.900). In conclusion, U. macrocarpa has the same long-distance seed dispersal mechanism in different directions under natural conditions in Horqin Sandy Land.

Key words: anemochorous plant, isolated tree, seed dispersal, Ulmus macrocarpa, understory, woodland edge

YANG Yun-Fei, BAI Yun-Peng, LI Jian-Dong. Spatial difference and regularity of seed dispersal of Ulmus macrocarpa in Horqin Sandy Land, China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2012, 36(8): 747-753.

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Figures/Tables 6

References 32

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距林缘的距离 Distance from woodland edges (m)	样本数 n	密度 Density (seeds·m^-2)				变异系数 CV (%)
距林缘的距离 Distance from woodland edges (m)	样本数 n	Max	Min	Mean^*	SD	变异系数 CV (%)
0 (林下 Understory)	12	748	408	546.3^a	100.71	18.4
3	12	584	132	329.7^b	143.58	43.5
6	12	344	76	200.7^c	90.07	44.9
9	12	168	24	87.7^d	47.19	53.8
12	12	132	20	48.0^e	31.12	64.8
15	12	60	8	25.3^f	15.85	62.6
18	12	36	4	15.0^fg	9.20	61.3
21	12	28	0	10.7^g	7.88	73.6

距林缘的距离 Distance from woodland edges (m)	样本数 n	密度 Density (seeds·m^-2)				变异系数 CV (%)
距林缘的距离 Distance from woodland edges (m)	样本数 n	Max	Min	Mean^*	SD	变异系数 CV (%)
0 (林下 Understory)	12	748	408	546.3^a	100.71	18.4
3	12	584	132	329.7^b	143.58	43.5
6	12	344	76	200.7^c	90.07	44.9
9	12	168	24	87.7^d	47.19	53.8
12	12	132	20	48.0^e	31.12	64.8
15	12	60	8	25.3^f	15.85	62.6
18	12	36	4	15.0^fg	9.20	61.3
21	12	28	0	10.7^g	7.88	73.6

种子源 Seed source	方向 Direction	Weibull分布 Weibull distribution					对数-正态分布 Logarithm-normal distribution
种子源 Seed source	方向 Direction	α	β	μ	χ²	χ²₍_α₎	μ	σ²	χ²	χ²₍_α₎
林缘 Woodland edge	北 N (n = 23)	1.100 1	4.030 5	0.898 3	3.864 6	<0.995	1.159 5	0.853 2	1.817 8	<0.995
	东北 NE (n = 25)	1.079 0	5.074 9	1.113 5	2.956 4	<0.995	1.339 4	0.801 0	3.556 0	<0.995
	南 S (n = 24)	1.212 9	4.944 7	1.131 5	1.567 2	<0.995	1.348 2	0.791 2	5.484 1	<0.995
	西 W (n = 24)	1.082 5	5.238 0	1.134 9	3.663 2	<0.995	1.362 6	0.875 4	5.363 9	<0.995
	平均 Mean (n = 25)	1.112 2	4.875 5	1.085 5	1.464 2	<0.995	1.314 5	0.832 0	2.130 2	<0.995
孤立树 Isolated tree	北 N (n = 22)	1.198 7	4.814 2	1.112 1	4.834 2	<0.995	1.327 5	0.773 1	2.749 0	<0.995
	东北 NE (n = 26)	1.224 0	6.061 1	1.340 8	2.129 5	<0.995	1.522 4	0.805 7	3.453 2	<0.995
	西 E (n = 24)	1.144 3	6.507 9	1.372 3	4.247 2	<0.995	1.557 8	0.875 6	3.947 2	<0.995
	东南 SE (n = 25)	1.194 0	6.479 3	1.389 5	3.822 5	<0.995	1.570 1	0.842 3	5.201 1	<0.995
	南 S (n = 23)	1.338 9	7.413 0	1.551 4	5.437 5	<0.995	1.708 6	0.828 3	13.201 0	<0.900
	西南 SW (n = 22)	1.197 8	6.490 0	1.394 3	7.733 6	<0.990	1.569 9	0.836 7	4.973 3	<0.995
	平均 Mean (n = 26)	1.209 1	6.332 0	1.371 6	1.087 4	<0.995	1.552 3	0.832 5	3.707 9	<0.995

种子源 Seed source	方向 Direction	Weibull分布 Weibull distribution					对数-正态分布 Logarithm-normal distribution
种子源 Seed source	方向 Direction	α	β	μ	χ²	χ²₍_α₎	μ	σ²	χ²	χ²₍_α₎
林缘 Woodland edge	北 N (n = 23)	1.100 1	4.030 5	0.898 3	3.864 6	<0.995	1.159 5	0.853 2	1.817 8	<0.995
	东北 NE (n = 25)	1.079 0	5.074 9	1.113 5	2.956 4	<0.995	1.339 4	0.801 0	3.556 0	<0.995
	南 S (n = 24)	1.212 9	4.944 7	1.131 5	1.567 2	<0.995	1.348 2	0.791 2	5.484 1	<0.995
	西 W (n = 24)	1.082 5	5.238 0	1.134 9	3.663 2	<0.995	1.362 6	0.875 4	5.363 9	<0.995
	平均 Mean (n = 25)	1.112 2	4.875 5	1.085 5	1.464 2	<0.995	1.314 5	0.832 0	2.130 2	<0.995
孤立树 Isolated tree	北 N (n = 22)	1.198 7	4.814 2	1.112 1	4.834 2	<0.995	1.327 5	0.773 1	2.749 0	<0.995
	东北 NE (n = 26)	1.224 0	6.061 1	1.340 8	2.129 5	<0.995	1.522 4	0.805 7	3.453 2	<0.995
	西 E (n = 24)	1.144 3	6.507 9	1.372 3	4.247 2	<0.995	1.557 8	0.875 6	3.947 2	<0.995
	东南 SE (n = 25)	1.194 0	6.479 3	1.389 5	3.822 5	<0.995	1.570 1	0.842 3	5.201 1	<0.995
	南 S (n = 23)	1.338 9	7.413 0	1.551 4	5.437 5	<0.995	1.708 6	0.828 3	13.201 0	<0.900
	西南 SW (n = 22)	1.197 8	6.490 0	1.394 3	7.733 6	<0.990	1.569 9	0.836 7	4.973 3	<0.995
	平均 Mean (n = 26)	1.209 1	6.332 0	1.371 6	1.087 4	<0.995	1.552 3	0.832 5	3.707 9	<0.995