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Effects of Small Gaps on the Relationship Among Soil Properties, Topography, and Plant Species in Subtropical Rhododendron Secondary Forest, Southwest China

Author

Listed:
  • Fenghua Tang

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Wenxuan Quan

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Chaochan Li

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
    State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China)

  • Xianfei Huang

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Xianliang Wu

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Qiaoan Yang

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Yannan Pan

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Tayan Xu

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Chenyu Qian

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

  • Yunbing Gu

    (Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Information Systems of Mountainous Areas and Protection of Ecological Environment, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China)

Abstract

Background : The secondary forests have become the major forest type worldwide, and forest gap was also a common small disturbance in secondary forests. We aimed to analyze the effects of small gap disturbance on the plant species richness of subtropical secondary forest with natural regeneration barriers and examine the relationship between soil topography and plant species in a subtropical Rhododendron secondary forest of the Baili Rhododendron National Nature Reserve. Methods : The major plant species and soil topography gradient factors of the small gaps and closed canopy (control group) were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, multivariate permutational analysis of variance, nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling, random forest, canonical correspondence analysis, redundancy analysis, and a generalized linear model. Results : Small gaps had significant impact on the distribution of soil available potassium (AK), organic carbon to total phosphorus (C/P) ratio rather than slope position for soil pH and calcium (Ca) under closed canopy. Soil pH and AK followed by total phosphorus (TP) were the most important variables explaining the spatial distributions of soil properties in both habitats. Determining the spatial distribution of individual woody plant species were soil pH in small gaps, instead of lower altitude, TP, total potassium (TK) and sodium (Na) concentrations for both habitats. Moreover, Ericaceae and Fagaceae were strongly associated with pH in the small gaps. However, there was soil Na for the herbaceous plant in the closed canopy. The species richness of woody plant species in small gaps was affected significantly by pH, soil water content (SWC), and TK, instead of soil organic carbon (SOC), SWC and C/P ratio in both habitats. Conclusions : Small gaps were not always significantly improved the composition of soil nutrients, but provided a good microenvironment for plant growth, species richness of major woody plant differed between habitats.

Suggested Citation

  • Fenghua Tang & Wenxuan Quan & Chaochan Li & Xianfei Huang & Xianliang Wu & Qiaoan Yang & Yannan Pan & Tayan Xu & Chenyu Qian & Yunbing Gu, 2019. "Effects of Small Gaps on the Relationship Among Soil Properties, Topography, and Plant Species in Subtropical Rhododendron Secondary Forest, Southwest China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:11:p:1919-:d:235728
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yujin Li & Juying Jiao & Zhijie Wang & Binting Cao & Yanhong Wei & Shu Hu, 2016. "Effects of Revegetation on Soil Organic Carbon Storage and Erosion-Induced Carbon Loss under Extreme Rainstorms in the Hill and Gully Region of the Loess Plateau," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Archer, Kellie J. & Kimes, Ryan V., 2008. "Empirical characterization of random forest variable importance measures," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 2249-2260, January.
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