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Evergreen Broad-leaved Forest (evergreen + broad-leaved_forest)
Selected AbstractsForest canopy and community dynamics in a temperate old-growth evergreen broad-leaved forest, south-western Japan: a 7-year study of a 4-ha plotJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2001Masahiro Miura Summary 1Forest canopy gap and community dynamics were studied in a 4-ha permanent plot of an old-growth evergreen broad-leaved forest dominated by Castanopsis cuspidata var. sieboldii and Distylium racemosum in the Tatera Forest Reserve, Tsushima Islands, south-western Japan. The forest was affected by a powerful typhoon in 1987 and was monitored from 1990 to 1997. 2In 1990, all woody stems , 5 cm diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) in the plot were identified, mapped and marked, and the state of 1600 5 m × 5 m contiguous quadrats used to locate canopy gaps. Gaps occupied 17.1% of the plot, which contained 4494 tree and shrub stems (total basal area 63.48 m2 ha,1). Gaps were re-censused in 1997 and both marked and newly recruited (, 5 cm d.b.h.) stems were recorded in 1992 and 1997. 3Over 7 years the rates of canopy gap formation and closure were 0.72% year,1 and 1.61% year,1, respectively, mortality and recruitment rates were 0.97% year,1 and 0.99% year,1, and the rates of loss and gain in basal area were 0.95% year,1 and 0.83% year,1. 4The mortality of stems was size-dependent, with those in middle size classes having the lowest rates. Mortality of stems was lower in canopy and higher in the understorey, while the proportion of stems killed by disturbances increased with height. 5Stems that died during the 7 years were predominantly located in newly created gaps, whereas stems were recruited into both established and new gaps. Deciduous broad-leaved species were largely restricted to gaps that remained open throughout the study. 6Both composition and structure of the forest changed in response to disturbance-related effects on canopy dynamics. [source] Variation in tree growth, mortality and recruitment among topographic positions in a warm temperate forestJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 3 2006Riyou Tsujino Abstract: Questions: Do the population dynamics of trees differ among topographic positions and, if so, how does topographic position affect the population dynamics of species that are distributed in a topography-specific manner? Which is the most important life stage in determining vegetation patterns? Location: Primary and secondary warm temperate evergreen broad-leaved forest (40 - 280 m a.s.l.) on the western part of Yakushima Island, Japan. Methods: Mortality, recruitment, DBH growth and distribution of stems (= 5 cm DBH) in a 2.62-ha plot were surveyed in 1992 and 2002 to determine the relationships between population parameters and (1) topography and (2) distribution patterns of 17 common tree species. Results: Common species (n = 17) were classified into three distribution pattern groups: group A, distributed mainly on convex slopes; group B, on concave slopes, and group C, not aggregated with respect to topographic position. Stem mortality, recruitment and DBH growth were greater in group A than in group B within each topographic class. The hierarchy of stem mortality among topographic classes for groups A and B was convex > planar > concave. Stem recruitment density was relatively high on the convex and concave slopes, respectively, for groups A and B. Conclusions The topographical positions of adult trees were not always most suited for adult survival and growth. For group A, the distribution pattern of adults was determined in the juvenile stage, while this was not the case for group B. Studies of juvenile stages are important for understanding the demographic basis of vegetation distribution patterns. [source] Passerine Pollination of Rhodoleia championii (Hamamelidaceae) in Subtropical ChinaBIOTROPICA, Issue 3 2010Lei Gu ABSTRACT The pollination ecology and breeding system of the Hamamelidaceae tree species Rhodoleia championii were studied in an evergreen broad-leaved forest in Nankunshan National Forest in Guangdong Province in China. Rhodoleia championii produces lipid-rich pollen grains and dilute nectar (averaging 0.7 mL/d and 9% sugar), with nectar production peaking before 0800 h; the species is self-incompatible and does not set seed asexually. Seven species of nectar-foraging birds visited the inflorescences, with the most common visitors being Japanese white-eyes (Zosterops japonicus, Zosteropidae) and fork-tailed sunbirds (Aethopyga christinae, Nectariniidae). Bumblebees and honeybees played limited roles as pollinators. As documented by fossils from Europe, the Rhodoleia stem lineage dates back at least to the Paleocene. Bird pollination, however, is unlikely to have evolved before the Oligocene when sunbirds arrived in Europe, and pollination by Z. japonicus cannot be much older than 250,000 million years ago, when Z. japonicus diverged from its closest relative. [source] | ||||||||||