Understory diversity are driven by resource availability rather than resource heterogeneity in subtropical forests

Su, Xiangping; Zheng, Gaochao; Chen, Han Y. H.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119781

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Compared with other plots located in different climatic zones in China, it is found that the species richness of evergreen broad-leaved forest understory herbaceous plants in Gutianshan are less than those in 20-ha Parashorea chinensis forest in Xishuangbanna (115 species, 41 families, and 76 genera) (Chen, 2008), which is a tropical forest, and the 25-ha broad-leaved Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountain (102 species, 40 families, and 84 genera) (Li et al, 2008), which is a temporal forest. However, the species richness of Gutianshan is close to that of 90 species in the Longyan forest zone, which is also in the subtropical monsoon climate zone (Su et al, 2022). It shows that there is a different richness of forest herbaceous plants in different climatic zones.…”

Section: Species Composition and Flora Of Herbaceous In The Subtropic...mentioning

confidence: 74%

Species diversity pattern and its drivers of the understory herbaceous plants in a Chinese subtropical forest

et al. 2023

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Understory herbaceous plants are an important component of forest ecosystems, playing important roles in species diversity and forest dynamics in forests. However, the current understanding of the biodiversity of forest communities is mostly from woody plants, and knowledge of community structure and species diversity for understory herbaceous plants remains scarce. In a subtropical forest in China, we investigated understory vascular herbaceous diversity from 300 plots (5 × 5 m) in the main growing season. In this study, we analyzed the community structure and diversity pattern of the understory herbaceous community and linked the species diversity pattern to both abiotic and biotic environments. We found a rich diversity of understory herbaceous communities in this forest (81 species belonging to 55 genera), and floristic elements at the genus level were dominated by tropical elements, followed by temperate elements. The diversity pattern of the understory herbaceous showed a significant habitat preference, with the highest diversity in the lowland valleys and then followed by in middle slopes. In addition, herbaceous diversity was significantly affected by both abiotic factors (such as terrain convexity) and biotic factors (such as the diversity of surrounding woody plants). Our study indicated that species diversity of understory herbaceous showed a remarkable habitat preference, such as lowland valleys, and highlighted the importance of both abiotic and biotic environments in driving herbaceous diversity patterns in the subtropical forest understory.

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Section: Species Composition and Flora Of Herbaceous In The Subtropic...mentioning

confidence: 74%

Species diversity pattern and its drivers of the understory herbaceous plants in a Chinese subtropical forest

et al. 2023

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“…The amount of light reaching the understory is one of the most important limiting factors affecting the species of understory plants (Kirby, 1988;Van Calster et al, 2008;Márialigeti et al, 2016;Shi et al, 2021), which determines the coverage, diversity and species composition of undergrowth vegetation. Many studies have shown that improved understory light conditions caused by increased canopy openness can improve plant diversity, especially in the herbaceous layer (Lee et al, 1997;Beaudet and Messier, 2002;Vesala et al, 2005;Ligot et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017;Ádám et al, 2018;Wan and He, 2020;Shi et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2021;Su et al, 2022). Theoretically, the effects of light on vegetation are complex because the abundance or diversity of understory vegetation does not necessarily correlate positively with light availability.…”

Section: Effect Of Light and Soil Environment On Understory Species D...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plants with a height lower than 1.3m in the forest are considered understory vegetation, playing a crucial role in the species diversity of the forest ecosystem. Moreover, understory vegetation is of great significance for the nutrient circulation and energy flow of the forest ecosystem, which can change the forest microclimate (Ramovs and Roberts, 2003;Hart and Chen, 2006;Rivaie, 2014;Su et al, 2022). The dynamic adaptation of understory species diversity to the environment can affect the composition and structure of the community and reflect the development stage of the community (Ares et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinning can increase shrub diversity and decrease herb diversity by regulating light and soil environments

Jian

Zhang

et al. 2022

Front. Plant Sci.

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Tree thinning affects the light environment, which in turn affects the growth and survival of understory vegetation, thus improving species diversity and nutrient cycling, as well as the ecological habitat factors. However, the response of understory vegetation to the thinning intensity and short-time effects in the temperate broadleaf-conifer mixed forest is not completely clear. In this study, four permanent plots with a total area of 4 hm2 were established in a mixed broadleaf-conifer forest in northeast China, with thinning intensities of 20% (light thinning, LT), 35% (medium thinning, MT), 55% (heavy thinning, HT) and the unthinned plot (CK), respectively, in accordance with the basal area. The responses of species diversity to changes in understory vegetation were conducted by a structural equation model (SEM). The results showed that compared with CK, thinning significantly increased the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and the light quality (R/FR) (p < 0.05), while decreased the contents of soil total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorous (TP), organic matter (OM), nitrate nitrogen (NN), ammonia nitrogen (AN) and pH. The degree of fragmentation of light factors among the treatment plots gradually decreased as thinning intensity increased. Among all the thinning treatments, PAR and R/FR were found to be the optimal light condition when the forest thinning intensity was 55%. The light condition was found to have a significant negative correlation with soil TN, TP, OM, and AN. While the soil nutrients were positively correlated with herbaceous layer diversity but negatively correlated with shrub layer diversity. The soil nutrients were lost after thinning in a short time and herb diversity decreased, but shrub diversity increased significantly compared with unthinned plots. For the understory vegetation, the species diversity of shrub and herb layer were showed to be more sensitive to soil nutrients than light environment.

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“…Research has shown that the variation in plant species diversity mainly occurs in the understory strata, especially in the herbaceous stratum, where species diversity also plays important roles in the structural dynamics of natural ecosystems . Therefore, determining the understory plant species diversity and its potential mechanistic drivers is important for predicting final successions and protecting biodiversity in the context of the species extinction crisis (Hooper et al, 2005;Su et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In comparison to the overstory stratum, the understory strata have higher heterogeneity and more complex community structures (Wang, Zhao, et al, 2019). While previous research has determined the critical factors driving the variation in overstory plant species diversity (Godlee et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2016), the relative importance of factors that influence the variation in understory plant species diversity remains unclear (Bartels & Chen, 2013;Kumar et al, 2018;Su et al, 2022;. For example, Sanaei et al (2018) reported that climate and geography are crucial factors for determining the understory plant species diversity on a regional scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture on the Loess Plateau: A case study of Hippophae rhamnoides

Chen,

Ren,

Wei

et al. 2024

Land Degrad Dev

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Afforestation with nature‐based solutions is beneficial for restoring biodiversity. On the Loess Plateau of China, numerous monocultures have been converted to mixed plantations following nature‐based solutions. However, the effect of plant mixture on understory plant species diversity remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the understory plant species diversity of different Hippophae rhamnoides mixed plantations resulting from nature‐based solutions and assessed the relative importance of associated factors driving their changes. The results showed that the response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture was nonsignificant, except for Armeniaca sibirica, which significantly reduced the understory plant species diversity. However, mixed plantations had higher variability in plant species diversity and environmental factors among individual plots than monocultures. In mixed plantations, understory plant species diversity was mainly affected by shrub stratum, followed by overstory stratum, soil nutrients, herbaceous stratum, and topography. Specifically, understory plant species diversity was positively associated with stand density and herb biomass but negatively associated with elevation and soil nitrogen. In particular, soil nitrogen also had negative impacts on herb biomass but was beneficial for the growth of trees and shrubs, indicating that trees and shrubs outperformed herbs in exploiting soil nutrients, a consequence of intense interspecific competition. In addition, the impacts of canopy cover and slope aspects on understory plant species diversity were nonsignificant. Overall, in mixed plantations on the Loess Plateau, understory plant species diversity was primarily affected by interspecific competition for preempting soil nitrogen.

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Understory diversity are driven by resource availability rather than resource heterogeneity in subtropical forests

Cited by 20 publications

References 61 publications

Species diversity pattern and its drivers of the understory herbaceous plants in a Chinese subtropical forest

Species diversity pattern and its drivers of the understory herbaceous plants in a Chinese subtropical forest

Thinning can increase shrub diversity and decrease herb diversity by regulating light and soil environments

Response of understory plant species diversity to plant mixture on the Loess Plateau: A case study of Hippophae rhamnoides

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