Influence of Close-to-nature Management on the Ecological Niche and Interspecific Relationships of Dominant Tree Species in Pinus massoniana Forests
In order to explore whether close-to-nature management can effectively improve the ecological niche and interspecific relationships of Pinus massoniana forests,and provide practical basis and scientific evidence for man-agement,this study focused on implementing close-to-nature management in P.massoniana forests for over 10 years.Three growth stages were considered:seedlings(D＜1 cm),young trees(1 cm≤D＜5 cm),and mature trees(D≥5cm)to investigate the impacts of close-to-nature management on the ecological niche and interspecific rela-tionships of 12 dominant tree species in P.massoniana forests.The results showed that:1)Close-to-nature manage-ment effectively reduced the Niche width of P.massoniana in the community at the stage of mature trees and young trees,while increasing the Niche width of P.massoniana seedlings and other dominant tree species;2)Close-to-nature management significantly decreased the ecological niche overlap among dominant tree species and increased the degree of niche differentiation;3)The overall correlation of the community mostly showed positive associations,but there were relatively few significantly positive associations between specific species pairs.Spearman test result-salso reflected that there were some differences but not significant between the managed and control stands at differ-ent growth stages,indicating that the improvement effect of close-to-nature management on interspecific relation-ships in P.massoniana forests was not ideal.In conclusion,the P.massoniana forests in the study area are still in the early stage of succession with unstable community structure.There is a certain effect on the improvement of in-terspecific relationships through close-to-nature management,but it is not evident.It is recommended to address the issue of high pure stands and excessive density in the P.massoniana forests in the study area.On the basis of densi-ty regulation,understory planting of Liquidambar formosana and oak species such as Quercus acutissima and Q.fabri should be combined to accelerate community succession and achieve the goal of improving interspecific relationships and enhancing community stability as soon as possible.
close-to-nature managementPinus massoniana forestsdominant tree speciesniche widthniche over-lap degreeinterspecific association
万方数据
维普
