Effects of selection cutting on the forest structure and species diversity of evergreen broad-leaved forest in northern Fujian, southern China

• Published in: Forestry Studies in China Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 16 - 20
• Main Authors: Qiu, Ren-hui, Chen, Han, Zhuo, Li-xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Springer Nature B.V 01.03.2006; Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 353001, P. R. China%General Forestry Corporation of Jiangle Prefecture, Jiangle, Fujian 366000, P. R. China%Fujian Provincial Institute of Forestry Inventory and Planning, Fuzhou 350000, P. R. China
• Subjects: Biological diversity; Herbivores; 多样性; 林业资源; 采伐量; forest structure; species diversity; importance value; selection cutting; cutting intensities
• ISSN: 1008-1321; 2095-4034; 1993-0372; 2197-5620
• DOI: 10.1007/s11632-006-0003-x

The short-term effects of selection curing of different intensities on the forest structure and species diversity of evergreen broad-leaved forest in northern Fujian Province were investigated and analyzed. The results showed that selection curing of low and medium intensities caused little variation in the forest structure. After curing, the dominant species retained their leading status in the community. However, the community structure changed significantly following selection curing of high and extra-high intensities; the status of the dominant species of the community declined dramatically. Some tree species began to disappear from the sampling plots. Except for extra-high intensity curing, the diversity of tree species did not change significantly for the other three curing intensities. However, the evenness of the stands was very different among the four kinds of curing plots. For low and medium intensity selection cutting, the evenness declined slightly. For extra-high intensity selection curing, the evenness increased to some extent, which might be due to a more even distribution of tree species after curing. CuRing operations resulted in some adverse reactions to development of arborous species diversity of evergreen broad-leaved forest, particularly serious damage to the forest canopy. But the rational selection cuttings, which may benefit the restoration and maintenance of species diversity over a long period and may come about from the variations in environmental factors such as sunlight, temperature and humidity.