Forest ecosystems in an old-growth pine–mixed hardwood forest of the Changbai Shan Preserve in northeastern China

Abstract

Landscape ecosystems of a 60-ha area, representative of the pine–mixed hardwood forest of the Changbai Shan Preserve in Jilin Province of northeastern China, were identified, described, and contrasted. Site–species relationships and successional trends were examined together with a comparison of these ecosystems and species with those of northern hardwood forests of eastern North America. Ecosystem components of physiography, soil, and vegetation were used to distinguish two major ecosystem types. The more widespread ecosystem 1 differed from ecosystem 2 in having a flatter topography and more moist and nutrient-rich soil. The overstory of ecosystem 1 was dominated by Tiliaamurensis Rupr., Pinuskoraiensis Sieb. & Zucc, Quercusmongolica Fisch. & Turcz., and Fraxinusmandshurica L., whereas that of ecosystem 2 was dominated primarily by Pinuskoraiensis and Quercusmongolica. Understory species and ground-cover vegetation also reflected the difference in physiography and soil between the two ecosystem types. Six Acer species were recorded; they occurred primarily in the subdominant overstory and the understory of both ecosystems. Without catastrophic disturbance, succession favors the more shade tolerant species in all layers. Pinus and Quercus are rare in the ground cover and understory. Acermono Maxim, is much less dominant than its North American counterpart, Acersaccharum Marsh., in their respective mesic ecosystems in the Changbai Shan forest and forests of western upper Michigan. Fagus and Tsuga, characteristic dominants of northern hardwood forests of eastern North America, are absent. The establishment ecology of Pinuskoraiensis, a five-needled pine with wingless seeds, in the mixed hardwood forest is discussed.

Long-term field studies of old-growth forests on Changbai Mountain in Northeast China

“…However, scientists from CMRSFE did not publish papers on Changbai forests in international journals until the early 1990s. The first five publications in the journals indexed in Thomson Reuter's Journal Citation Reports (or ISI journals) included Zhau and Zhau (1991) on nature reserve management, Barnes et al (1992) on the structure and composition of the mixed forest, Geng et al (1993) on leaf litter decay and nitrogen dynamics, Shao et al (1994) on forest dynamic simulations with a gap model, and Shao et al (1996) on forest cover mapping with remote sensing data. These pioneer works from CMRSFE laid the foundation for intensified efforts in forest research on Changbai Mountain over the past two decades.…”

Forest degradation deepens around and within protected areas in East Asia

“…Known as Changbaishan in Chinese and Baekdu-san in Korean (C/B Mountain hereafter), the area covered consists of contiguous primary forest landscapes and has the highest plant biodiversity in the cool temperate zone (Barnes et al, 1992). Due to an expansive elevation gradient that creates a wide range of climatic conditions, the diversified biomes range from temperate forest (<1100 m) to tundra at high elevations (>2000 m).…”

Integrating stand and landscape decisions for multi-purposes of forest harvesting

“…Forests on Changbai Mountain provide important ecological and economic services to the region (Wu et al, 2002). The dominant tree species include Acer mono, Fraxinus mandshurica, Juglans mandshurica, Pinus koraiensis, Quercus mongolica, Tilia amurensis, and Ulmus japonica (Barnes et al, 1993).…”