Prevalence of Inter-Tree Competition and Its Role in Shaping the Community Structure of a Natural Mongolian Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) Forest

Wang, Hongxiang; Park, Wan; QianXue, Wang; Liu, Ling; Zhang, Gongqiao; Gao, Hui

doi:10.3390/f8030084

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…9. The spatial pattern of natural regeneration on permanent research plots 1-6 expressed by Lfunction in 2016; the black line represents the L-function for real distances of recruits; the bold grey line represents the mean course for random spatial distribution and the two thinner central curves represent 95% interval of reliability; when the black line of recruits distribution on the plots is under (below) this interval, it indicates a tendency of recruits toward aggregation (regular) distribution ecosystems are rightfully receiving more and more attention (Popa et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2017). The structure and growth of pine stands in the Czech Republic were dealt with by Bílek et al (2016); or Sharma et al (2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stand dynamics in natural Scots pine forests as a model for adaptation management?

Vacek¹,

Vacek²,

Bílek³

et al. 2020

Dendrobiology

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The paper deals with the dynamics of structure, diversity and growth of natural pine stands without direct human impact during the ten-year period in Nature Reserve (NR) Kostelecké bory, Czech Republic. The objective was to determine the main characteristics of the spontaneous development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest stands in relation to their naturalness, ecological stability and adaptation to climate change and air pollution stress. Horizontal and vertical structure and species diversity of the tree layer, dead wood and natural regeneration of each permanent research plot (PRP) were evaluated (n = 6, 50 × 50 m /0.25 ha/, Northern Bohemia, 410-425 m above sea level). The average ring series of PRPs were correlated with the climatic data (precipitation, temperature) according to individual years from the Doksy climatic station, and the air pollution data (SO 2 in 1988-2015, NO X and AOT40F-ozone exposure in 1992-2015) from Radimovice station. In 2016, the stand volume increased by 26.0% to 136 m 3 ha −1 (108 m 3 ha −1 in 2006) and the volume of dead wood increase by 127.2% to 27 m 3 ha −1 (12 m 3 ha −1 in 2006). The horizontal structure of tree layer and natural regeneration was predominantly aggregated to random. More distinct changes in biodiversity and structural characteristics occurred in the natural regeneration (21.5%) compared to tree layer (2.8%). The precipitation had a significantly higher effect on radial growth compared to temperature. The lack of precipitation in growing season and high temperature in previous autumn and winter were limiting factors for growth. Climatic factors had significant effect on diameter increment in July of the current year (P < 0.01) and June of the current and previous year (P < 0.05). Radial growth was negatively correlated with SO 2 concentrations (P < 0.01) and ozone exposure (P < 0.05). NO X concentrations had low effect on radial growth. The natural stand dynamics had positive effect on biodiversity and functional integrity of natural pine ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stand dynamics in natural Scots pine forests as a model for adaptation management?

Vacek¹,

Vacek²,

Bílek³

et al. 2020

Dendrobiology

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“…A previous study reported that the crown diameter of Mongolian pine increased with both age and stand density [65]. As crowns may overlap, competition is a crucial factor that affects Mongolian pine growth [66]; thus, trees growing in a dense forest may undergo decline more readily. Trees in low-density stands were reported to show greater R t and R c , indicating that trees growing at lower densities were less vulnerable to the harmful effects of drought [3] and high-density stands were more sensitive to climatic fluctuations (particularly precipitation).…”

Section: Vulnerability To Droughtmentioning

confidence: 98%

Tree-Ring Analysis Reveals Density-Dependent Vulnerability to Drought in Planted Mongolian Pines

Sun

Lei

Jia

et al. 2020

Forests

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Population density influences tree responses to environmental stresses, such as drought and high temperature. Prolonged drought negatively affects the health of Mongolian pines in forests planted by the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in North China. To understand the relationship between stand density and drought-induced forest decline, and to generate information regarding the development of future management strategies, we analyzed the vulnerability to drought of planted Mongolian pines at three stand densities. A tree-ring width index for trees from each density was established from tree-ring data covering the period 1988–2018 and was compared for differences in radial growth. Resistance (Rt), recovery (Rc), resilience (Rs), and relative resilience (RRs) in response to drought events were calculated from the smoothed basal area increment (BAI) curves. The high-density (HDT) group showed a consistently lower tree-ring width than the border trees (BT) and low-density (LDT) groups. The BAI curve of the HDT group started to decrease five years earlier than the LDT and BT groups. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the radial growth of all of the groups was related to precipitation, relative humidity (RH), potential evapotranspiration (ET0), and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) in the previous October and the most recent July, indicating that Mongolian pine trees of different densities had similar growth–climate relationships. Over the three decades, the trees experienced three severe drought events, each causing reduced tree-ring width and BAI. All of the groups showed similar Rc to each drought event, but the HDT group exhibited significantly lower Rt, Rs, and RRs than the BT group, suggesting that the HDT trees were more vulnerable to repeated drought stress. The RRs of the HDT group decreased progressively after each drought event and attained <0 after the third event. All of the groups showed similar trends regarding water consumption under varying weather conditions, but the HDT group showed significantly reduced whole-tree hydraulic capability compared with the other two groups. From these results, HDT trees exhibit ecophysiological memory effects from successive droughts, including sap flux dysfunction and higher competition index, which may prevent recovery of pre-drought growth rates. HDT trees may be at greater risk of mortality under future drought disturbance.

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“…In order to explore spatial correlation structure in terms of quantitative tree mark of tree, tree size (height) was used as a "mark" in a mark correlation function (MCF) and mark variograms function (MVF) [37][38][39][40][41][42]. The MCF analysis is similar to the pair-correlation function g(r), but it allowed us to detect density-dependent size correlation caused by competition in nearby tree individuals [40,41].…”

Section: Marked Correlation Functions and Marked Variogramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In such situations, the study of size correlation and size autocorrelation in trees spatial distribution patterns can identify the underlying competition relationship of nearby trees [31,33,34,[37][38][39][40][41]. Strong competition interactions between neighbouring trees that cause size hierarchies (unequal-sized neighbouring) often leads to asymmetric competition, which was defined as larger-sized trees obtaining a disproportionate share of resources (for their relative size) and suppressing the growth of smaller ones [42,43]. If asymmetric competition occurs between a pair of trees at close proximity during forest development, the bigger-sized individual receives more resources for growth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If asymmetric competition occurs between a pair of trees at close proximity during forest development, the bigger-sized individual receives more resources for growth. As a result, there would be a high frequency of pairs of dominant and suppressed trees nearby in later succession, which would cause a negative autocorrelation in plant size [37,42,44].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial Pattern and Competitive Relationships of Moso Bamboo in a Native Subtropical Rainforest Community

Zhang

Xue

2018

Forests

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Bamboo has invaded native forests worldwide, and its aggressive spread by rhizomes facilitates patch expansion and the eventual replacement of adjacent forests. However, fine-scale studies of the spatial pattern and competitive relationships of bamboo in native forests are still lacking. We obtained data from nine plots in a native south subtropical rainforest in Guizhou Province, northwest China. Pair-correlation functions indicated that competition caused by bamboo expansion has not led to large-scale regular spatial distributions in bamboo forest and negative density-related dependence mechanisms regulating the spatial pattern of the native forest community. Marked correlation functions indicated small bamboo in clusters form colony patches that grow around the larger mature trees, resulting in patch expansion in the native forest community. Mark variogram functions identified significant positive spatial autocorrelation of moso bamboo caused by interactions with similar-sized trees within colony patches. This study showed that moso bamboo has colonized and expanded within the native forest community. Compared to the native forest species, the strategy of patch expansion and equal tree sizes in colony patches of moso bamboo could prevent regular distribution trend and size-asymmetric competition between nearby bamboo for the asymmetric and limited sources (i.e., light) in the forest, enhancing the persistence of moso bamboo in the native forest in our study stand located in a south subtropical rainforest in a river valley.

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Prevalence of Inter-Tree Competition and Its Role in Shaping the Community Structure of a Natural Mongolian Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) Forest

Cited by 16 publications

References 45 publications

Stand dynamics in natural Scots pine forests as a model for adaptation management?

Stand dynamics in natural Scots pine forests as a model for adaptation management?

Tree-Ring Analysis Reveals Density-Dependent Vulnerability to Drought in Planted Mongolian Pines

Spatial Pattern and Competitive Relationships of Moso Bamboo in a Native Subtropical Rainforest Community

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