Effects of disturbance on regeneration of Abies fabri forests at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River

• Published in: Forestry Studies in China Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 27 - 32
• Main Authors: Gao, Jia-rong, Gao, Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Springer Nature B.V 01.03.2007; Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Combating, Ministry of Education, College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, P. R. China
• Subjects: Forests; Rivers; Gongga Mountains; community composition; Abiesfabri; dark coniferous forest
• ISSN: 1008-1321; 2095-4034; 1993-0372; 2197-5620
• DOI: 10.1007/s11632-007-0005-3

Mudflow is the principal disturbance in Abies fabri forests. In the Gongga Mountain areas of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the intensities and periodicity of different scale mudflows vary. Small-scale mudflows are more frequent, occurring every one or two years while large-scale mudflows may occur once in more than one hundred years. Through a field study of A. fabri forests during different stages of growth, we analyzed their structural characteristics and discovered that after different sizes of mud-flow, poplar and birch often occupy the dominant canopy at the expense of the slow growing A. fabri, for only a small number of saplings are A. fabri that occurs in the first regeneration stage. However, a large number of seed resources can be found in mature A. fabri forests and as a unique regeneration species, A. fabri will gradually replace all the other species and form a stable community of strong shade-tolerant trees. Because of the intimate relationship between growing conditions and soil and water conservation at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, we should carry out some artificial measurements to control and promote the slow regeneration process of A. fabri.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]