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Articles by Deliang Lu

Category : Research article

article id 7693, category Research article
Chunyu Zhu, Jiaojun Zhu, Xiao Zheng, Deliang Lu, Xiufen Li. (2017). Comparison of gap formation and distribution pattern induced by wind/snowstorm and flood in a temperate secondary forest ecosystem, Northeast China. Silva Fennica vol. 51 no. 5 article id 7693. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.7693
Keywords: secondary forests; canopy opening; windstorm; flood; large scale
Highlights: The canopy gaps induced by wind/snowstorm were aggregated in steep slope and high altitude areas, while the gaps formed by flood were gathered in steep slope and low altitude areas; The wind/snowstorm mainly driven the formation of medium gaps, while the flood mainly promoted the percentage of small gaps and vacant lands.
Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Canopy gap is the driving force of forest succession. Due to the uncontrollability, however, the influences of natural disturbances on gap formation and gap distribution pattern have been rarely understood in temperate secondary forest ecosystems. We monitored the gap formation and gap distribution pattern using high-resolution remote sensing images before and after two disturbances (wind/snowstorm in 2003 and flood in 2013). The results showed that after wind/snowstorm, the gap nearest neighbor index (GNNI) decreased, the vacant land area did not obviously change while the gap fraction and gaps density (especially medium size) increased. After the flood, GNNI decreased, the number of small gaps increased but larger gaps were in many cases extended to vacant land areas leading to a smaller total number of medium and large gaps but considerable increase in vacant land area. We also found that the gap densities increased with slope and altitude for wind/snowstorm-formed gaps, but they increased with increasing slope and decreasing altitude for flood-formed gaps. These results indicated that gaps were aggregated in steep slope and high altitude areas after wind/snowstorm, but in steep slope and low altitude areas after the flood. Medium gaps were mainly created by the wind/snowstorm due to the individual-level death of dominant tree with the continuous fall of surrounding trees. While, vacant lands were obviously created during the flood because of integral sweeping. Besides, smaller trees were easily damaged by runoff of flood, which induced small gaps. In summary, forest managers may pay more attention to use gaps to accelerate forest succession after wind/snowstorms and to restore vegetation in vacant lands after floods.

  • Zhu, E-mail: Chunyuzhu123@126.com
  • Zhu, E-mail: jiaojunzhu@iae.ac.cn (email)
  • Zheng, E-mail: xiaozheng@iae.ac.cn
  • Lu, E-mail: delianglu14@hotmail.com
  • Li, E-mail: delianglu14@hotmail.com
article id 1310, category Research article
Deliang Lu, Jiaojun Zhu, Yirong Sun, Lile Hu, Guangqi Zhang. (2015). Gap closure process by lateral extension growth of canopy trees and its effect on woody species regeneration in a temperate secondary forest, Northeast China. Silva Fennica vol. 49 no. 5 article id 1310. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.1310
Keywords: canopy closure; recruitment; canopy opening; opening size; crown expansion; duration; hemispherical photograph
Highlights: Gap closure process by lateral extension growth can be described by quadratic functions; Large gaps (514–621 m2) had higher closure rates but lower closure percentages compared with middle (174–321 m2) and small gaps (68–125 m2); Gaps promoted woody species regeneration in early stage; Large and middle gaps would provide opportunities for filling regeneration, but regeneration in small gaps may eventually fail.
Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Gap formation and its effects on regeneration have been reported as being important in forest development, but seldom studies concentrated on the gap closure process by lateral extension growth of canopy trees surrounding gaps. We monitored the closure process of 12 artificial gaps for 7 years with three size classes: small (from 68 m2 to 125 m2), middle (from 174 m2 to 321 m2), and large (from 514 m2 to 621 m2); and investigated the regeneration twice in a temperate secondary forest, Northeast China. The closure process can be described through quadratic functions, which showed the closure rates slowed down with gap ages. Large gaps had a higher closure rate (39 m2 a–1) than middle gaps (25 m2 a–1) and small gaps (11 m2 a–1). According to the quadratic equations, the lateral growth could last 11, 13 and 16 years for small, middle and large gaps with a remaining size of 12, 69 and 223 m2, respectively. As expected, regeneration exhibited the highest seedling density and volume in large gaps. There was no significant difference in regeneration density between middle gaps, small gaps and forest understory in the final investigation; but the volume of regenerated woody species increased significantly from small gaps to large gaps compared with forest understory. These results may provide references on the choice of appropriate gap sizes to promote the regeneration in temperate secondary forests.

  • Lu, State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Qingyuan Forest CERN, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;  University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China E-mail: delianglu14@hotmail.com
  • Zhu, State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Qingyuan Forest CERN, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China E-mail: jiaojunzhu@iae.ac.cn (email)
  • Sun, State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Qingyuan Forest CERN, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China E-mail: yirongsun@iae.ac.cn
  • Hu,  Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China E-mail: lilehu@gmail.com
  • Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Qingyuan Forest CERN, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;  University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China E-mail: zgq04713@163.com

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