A comparison of tree community assemblage and diversity of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China

Department of Forest management, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
Department of Forest protection, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.1639v1
Subject Areas
Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, Ecology, Plant Science
Keywords
biodiversity conservation, floristic composition, coexistence mechanism, restoration effect
Copyright
© 2016 Chai et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Chai Z, Wang D. 2016. A comparison of tree community assemblage and diversity of secondary forests between the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains, China. PeerJ PrePrints 4:e1639v1

Abstract

Deforestation is a major driver of forest loss and fragmentation, threatening forest biodiversity worldwide. The conservation and restoration of secondary vegetation is thus an important developmental goal. Birch and pine-oak belts have been the two main types of vegetation in the mid-altitude zone of the Qinling Mountains in China but are now mainly covered by secondary growth following large-scale deforestation. Assessing the recovery and sustainability of these forests is essential for their management and restoration. We investigated and compared the tree community assemblages and diversity patterns of secondary forests between birch and pine-oak belts in the Huoditang forest region of the Qinling Mountains after identical natural recoveries. Both the birch and pine-oak belts had richspeciescompositions and similar floristiccomponents but clearly different tree community structures. Niche and neutral processes simultaneously influenced the distribution of species and the community dynamics of the belts. Tree diversity was significantly higher for the birch than the pine-oak belt. Monitoring biodiversity is essential for the recovery and development of forest resources in the Qinling Mountains to safeguard biodiversity, especially tree diversity.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for peer review.

Supplemental Information

Raw data of the typical secondary forests for the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zoneof theQinling Mountains, China

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.1639v1/supp-1

Parameters of the sample plots for the typical secondary forests for the birch and pine-oak belts in the mid-altitude zoneof theQinling Mountains, China

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.1639v1/supp-2

The introduction of species abundance distribution

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.1639v1/supp-3

Species composition and IV characterstics

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.1639v1/supp-4