Spatiotemporal dynamics of woody plant species diversity and aboveground biomass during near-nature forest reconstruction in Shanghai: A case study from the eco-island in Minhang District

doi:10.17520/biods.2024444

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Reconstruction of near-nature forests is an important approach to accelerate the recovery of urban vegetation and forest restoration. However, the spatial and temporal dynamics of species diversity, canopy structure, and biomass during the subtropical forest restoration remain unclear, especially in highly urbanized regions.

Methods: Based on long-term subtropical near-nature forest plant community that planted with native tree species in 2006 in Minhang District of the megacity Shanghai, we did the resurvey of plant community in 2023, and compared with the compositional changes of plant community through five historical surveys of core plots from 2007 to 2023. Aboveground biomass and the relations among aboveground biomass, species richness and tree height across temporal and spatial scales were analyzed using general linear regression.

Results: Along with near-nature forest succession, woody plant richness increased from 11 in 2007 to 18 in 2023, and stem density increased at early stages and then decreased. The aboveground biomass increased from 3.51 t/ha in 2007 to 208.83 t/ha in 2023. Evergreen tree species such as Camphora officinarum and Quercus myrsinifolia gradually became the dominant species. Aboveground biomass showed significant positive correlations with species richness (P < 0.01) and mean tree height (P < 0.001), and a significant negative correlation with stem density (P < 0.01). When comparing the compositional changes over space, at three scales of 5 m, 10 m and 20 m, the relations between aboveground biomass and stem density remained highly significantly positive (P < 0.001), but the relations with mean tree height shifted from no significant at 5 m scale to significantly negative at 10 m (P < 0.05) and 20 m (P < 0.05) scales.

Conclusion: During the 17-year subtropical forest restoration, the model of near-nature forest construction has clearly exhibited its efficacy in accelerating the succession process. These preliminary findings suggest that, during the construction and restoration of near-nature forests, we should pay attention to the dominant role of native tree species, and consider diverse species composition to effectively promote plant diversity and carbon storage.

Key words: urban near-nature forest, species diversity, biomass accumulation, community succession, subtropical forest

Xiaoqing Wu, Meihui Zhang, Suting Ge, Manshu Li, Liangjun Da, Kun Song, Guochun Shen, Jian Zhang. Spatiotemporal dynamics of woody plant species diversity and aboveground biomass during near-nature forest reconstruction in Shanghai: A case study from the eco-island in Minhang District[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2025, 33(5): 24444.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2024444

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2025/V33/I5/24444

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Comparisons between the near-nature forest in 2007 and 2023 in Minhang District, Shanghai. Photos provider: (a) Liangjun Da; (b) Guochun Shen; (c) Liangjun Da; (d) Xiaoqing Wu.

Fig. 2 Dynamics of plant community structural characteristics of near-nature forest from 2007 to 2023 in Minhang District, Shanghai. AGB, Aboveground biomass; GiniHt, Gini coefficient of tree height.

Table 1 Temporal dynamics of aboveground biomass (AGB) and their mean tree heights in near-nature forest from 2007 to 2023 in Minhang District, Shanghai

树种 Tree species	地上生物量(地上生物量占比%) AGB (t/ha) (AGB percentage, %)					平均树高 Mean tree height (m)
树种 Tree species	2007	2008	2012	2018	2023	2007	2008	2012	2018	2023
楝 Melia azedarach	1.22 (34.72)	4.58 (37.45)	16.80 (18.56)			3.29	4.16	6.42
朴树 Celtis sinensis	0.92 (26.14)	3.24 (26.48)		11.62 (6.37)		3.63	5.33		6.31
珊瑚朴 Celtis julianae	0.38 (10.87)	1.50 (12.30)				3.54	4.16
枫杨 Pterocarya stenoptera	0.25 (7.14)	1.03 (8.39)	13.22 (14.60)	41.44 (22.72)	32.44 (15.53)	3.33	4.53	8.31	11.62	11.70
红楠 Machilus thunbergii	0.23 (6.46)	0.67 (5.45)				0.96	4.08
合欢 Albizia julibrissin			16.61 (18.35)	26.79 (14.69)	10.91 (5.23)			10.80	11.56	11.07
樟 Camphora officinarum			15.04 (16.62)	39.16 (21.47)	30.49 (14.60)			8.20	7.00	12.04
舟山新木姜子 Neolitsea sericea			5.79 (6.40)					3.31
青冈 Quercus glauca			5.06 (5.59)					3.96
女贞 Ligustrum lucidum				12.76 (7.00)					6.79
小叶青冈 Quercus myrsinifolia				12.36 (6.78)	13.71 (6.57)				4.89	5.14
麻栎 Quercus acutissima				11.73 (6.43)					9.10
无患子 Sapindus saponaria					45.72 (21.89)					9.63
复羽叶栾树 Koelreuteria bipinnata					13.47 (6.45)					12.40
栾树 Koelreuteria paniculata					11.89 (5.69)					11.47

Fig. 3 Relations between aboveground biomass (AGB) and species richness (a), stem density (b), mean tree height (c), and Gini coefficient of tree height (GiniHt) (d) in near-nature forest in Minhang District, Shanghai. ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001.

Fig. 4 Spatial distribution of species richness (a, c, e) and stem density (b, d, f) at three scales in near-nature forest in Minhang District, Shanghai. The horizontal and vertical coordinates represent the distances eastward and northward from the origin at the southwest corner in the landscape view, respectively.

Fig. 5 Spatial distributions of plant aboveground biomass (AGB) (a, c, e) and mean tree height (b, d, f) at three scales in near-nature forest in Minhang District, Shanghai. The horizontal and vertical coordinates represent the distances eastward and northward from the origin at the southwest corner in the landscape view, respectively.

Fig. 6 Correlations between aboveground biomass (AGB) and stem density at three spatial scale in near-nature forest in Minhang District, Shanghai. *** P < 0.001.

Fig. 7 Correlations between aboveground biomass (AGB) and mean height at three spatial scales in near-nature forest in Minhang District, Shanghai. * P < 0.05

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