Biodiv Sci ›› 2011, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (2): 197-205.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2011.09220

Special Issue: 中国的森林生物多样性监测

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Effects of an ice storm on community structure of an evergreen broad- leaved forest in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve, Zhejiang Province

Xingxing Man1,2, Xiangcheng Mi1, Keping Ma1,*()   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093
    2 Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
  • Received:2010-09-15 Accepted:2010-11-29 Online:2011-03-20 Published:2011-06-01
  • Contact: Keping Ma

Abstract:

We inventoried tree damage within a 24-ha plot in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve immediately after the ice storm that affected south China in 2008. This ice storm caused severe damage to one third of trees and relatively slight damage to another third of trees in the plot. Results from our multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that all of the four examined factors, diameter at breast height (DBH), habitat type, plant life form and leaf habit (evergreen/deciduous), had close relationship with the damage types of forest trees. The results of multinomial logistic regression model indicated that evergreen canopy trees in low valleys with larger DBH suffered more severe damage. Detrended correspondence analysis was employed to compare variation in forest community composition before and after the ice storm. Variation in community composition before and after the ice storm differed significantly from stochastic variation modeled with null models at scales of 40 m×40 m. This result indicates that some species are more prone to ice-storm damage than others, which may result in directional changes in community composition.

Key words: ice storm, damage type, multinomial logistic regression, detrended correspondence analysis, community structure