Journal of Forestry Research最新文献

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a vital role in plant productivity and ecosystem functions. However, their responses to abiotic factors (i.e., climate, physiography, and soil properties) are unknown, especially across climatic gradients and slope aspects in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. In this study, using 60 composite soil samples, direct and indirect effects of climate factors and slope aspects on AMF diversity, composition and spore density were studied. The findings indicate that climate has a more direct influence on soil properties (P < 0.001) in comparison to slope aspect (P = 0.449). In contrast, climate significantly affected AMF diversity and composition, with the highest diversity in dryer areas. Soil pH had the highest correlation with different facets of AMF diversity. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that only a small part of the variation in AMF diversity and spore density could be explained by climate characteristics, slope aspect and soil properties. Based on SEM results, climate was the most important determinant of AMF diversity and spore density; slope aspect had a less critical role. The outputs suggest that variations in AMF diversity are derived by the direct effects of climate and the indirect effect of soil chemical properties. In addition, with increasing dryness, sporulation and AMF diversity increased.

Graphical Abstract

Unstable environments intensify the frequency of extreme disasters. Long-term climate changes can lead to agricultural and ecological degradation that threatens population sustainability. To better understand past climatic events and consequences, here we present a reconstruction of the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) from September to August for the desert margins of northern China, dating back to 1742. The reconstruction accounts for 42.9% of the variation of meteorological data between 1951 and 2020. Our spatial correlation analyses showed significant correlations between scPDSI, runoff, and precipitation. Over the past 279 years, the study area has undergone nine dry and eight wet periods, with the most severe climate extremes between the 1850s and 1890s. This period of prolonged drought in northeastern China coincided with the combined impacts of climatic factors and human influences, contributing to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Analysis of periodicity and anomalies in sea surface temperatures indicate a strong association between wet and dry cycles and El Niño-Southern Oscillations. Our findings offer insights into long-term dry and wet fluctuations at the desert margins in northern China and elucidate the relationship between drought and the dynamics of civilizations. They also highlight the potential impact of extremes in climate on modern society, especially under the four projected shared socioeconomic pathways climatic scenarios, which predict worsening droughts in northern China.

Rapid increase in desertification is an environmental concern, especially for the health and sustainability of ecosystems in changing climates. How ecosystems respond to such changes may be partially understood by studying interactions and performance of critically important groups such as soil fungi functional groups. This study investigated variations in diversities of three soil fungi functional guilds (saprotrophic, symbiotic, pathogenic) and influencing abiotic factors in a Pinus densata forest on the southeast Tibetan Plateau where desertification is intense. The results indicate desertification significantly decreased the proportion of dominant fungal guild-symbiotic fungi (mean relative abundance decreasing from 97.0% to 68.3%), in contrast to saprotrophic fungi (increasing from 2.7% to 25.7%) and pathogenic (from 0.3% to 5.9%). Soil pH had the most significant impact on fungal community structure and negatively correlated with symbiotic fungal richness, which was significantly lower in arid soils, and positively correlated with saprotrophic and pathogenic fungal alpha-diversity, which were abundant. Different community structures and regulators of the three fungi communities were observed, with pH, total phosphorus and ammonium (NH₄⁺) as the main determinants. This study links the biotic and abiotic components during desertification and the interactions between them, and may be used as indicators of ecosystem health and for amendments to mitigate the effects of a changing climate.

In recent decades, the rapid climate warming in polar and alpine regions has been accompanied by an expansion of shrub vegetation. However, little is known about how changes in shrub distribution will change as the distribution of tree species and snow cover changes as temperatures rise. In this work, we analyzed the main environmental factors influencing the distribution and structure of Juniperus sibirica, the most common shrub species in the Southern Ural Mountains. Using mapping and digital elevation models, we demonstrated that J. sibirica forms a well-defined vegetation belt mainly between 1100 and 1400 m a.s.l. Within this zone, the abundance and cover of J. sibirica are influenced by factors such as rockiness, slope steepness, water regime and tree (Picea obovata) cover. An analysis of data spanning the past 9 years revealed an upward shift in the distribution of J. sibirica with a decrease in its area. The primary limiting factors for the distribution of J. sibirica were the removal of snow cover by strong winter winds and competition with trees. As a consequence of climatic changes, the tree line and forest limit have shifted upward, further restricting the distribution of J. sibirica to higher elevations where competition for light with trees is reduced and snow cover is sufficiently deep.

Forest ecosystems within national parks are threatened by various biotic and abiotic factors. To determine the causes of the desiccation and death of trees in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests of Tara National Park (TNP), Serbia, we monitored defoliation and mortality of individual trees in permanent experimental plots. Data on the desiccation of a large number of trees were gathered by determining the total volume of dry trees and areas of forests under drying stress. The two sets of data were combined to determine the impact of climatic events, primarily drought periods, on the desiccation of forests. Combining data from the International Co-operative Program on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) with TNP data helped relate forest desiccation to climate events. Key climate signals were identified by monitoring tree defoliation changes in two permanent experimental plots, and then assessed for their influence on tree desiccation in the entire national park. The standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) was used for a more detailed analysis of the drought period. Despite the lack of climate data for a certain period, the SPEI index revealed a link between climate variables and the defoliation and desiccation of forests. Furthermore, the desiccation of trees was preceded by a long drought period. Although mixed coniferous-deciduous forests are often considered less vulnerable to natural influences, this study suggests that forest ecosystems can become vulnerable regardless of tree species composition due to multi-year droughts. These findings contribute to a better understanding of important clues for predicting possible future desiccation of forests. Continuous monitoring of the state of forests and of more permanent experimental plots in national parks could provide better quality data and timely responses to stressful situations.

The use of mobile laser scanning to survey forest ecosystems is a promising, scalable technology to describe forest 3D structures at high resolution. To confirm the consistency in the retrieval of forest structural parameters using hand-held laser scanning (HLS), before operationalizing the method, confirming the data is crucial. We analyzed the performance of tree-level mapping based on HLS under different phenology conditions on a mixed forest in western Spain comprising Pinus pinaster and two deciduous species, Alnus glutinosa and Quercus pyrenaica. The area was surveyed twice during the growing season (July 2022) and once in the deciduous season (February 2022) using several scanning paths. Ground reference data (418 trees, 15 snags) was used to calibrate the HLS data and to assess the influence of phenology when converting 3D data into tree-level attributes (DBH, height and volume). The HLS-based workflow was robust at isolating tree positions and recognizing stems despite changes in phenology. Ninety-six percent of all pairs matched below 65 cm. For DBH, phenology barely altered estimates. We observed a strong agreement when comparing HLS-based tree height distributions. The values exceeded 2 m when comparing height measurements, confirming height data should be carefully used as reference in remote sensing-based inventories, especially for deciduous species. Tree volume was more precise for pines (r = 0.95, and relative RMSE = 21.3 –23.8%) compared to deciduous species (r = 0.91 –0.96, and relative RMSE = 27.3–30.5%). HLS data and the forest structural complexity tool performed remarkably, especially in tree positioning considering mixed forests and mixed phenology conditions.

Global forests are increasingly crucial for achieving net-zero carbon emissions, with a quarter of the mitigation efforts under the Paris Climate Agreement directed towards forests. In China, forests currently contribute to 13% of the global land's carbon sink, but their stability and persistence remain uncertain. We examined and identified that published studies suffered from oversimplifications of ecosystem succession and tree demographic dynamics, as well as poor constraints on land quality. Consequently, substantial estimations might have been suffered from underrepresented or ignored crucial factors, including tree demographic dynamics, and disturbances and habitat shifts caused by global climate change. We argue that these essential factors should be considered to enhance the reliability and accuracy of assessments of the potential for forest carbon sinks.

Trees progress through various growth stages, each marked by specific responses and adaptation strategies to environmental conditions. Despite the importance of age-related growth responses on overall forest health and management policies, limited knowledge exists regarding age-related effects on dendroclimatic relationships in key subtropical tree species. In this study, we employed a dendrochronological method to examine the impact of rapid warming on growth dynamics and climatic sensitivity of young (40–60 years) and old (100–180 years) Pinus massoniana forests across six sites in central-southern China. The normalized log basal area increment of trees in both age groups increased significantly following rapid warming in 1984. Trees in young forests further showed a distinct growth decline during a prolonged severe drought (2004–2013), whereas those in old forests maintained growth increases. Tree growth was more strongly influenced by temperature than by moisture, particularly in old forests. Spring temperatures strongly and positively impacted the growth of old trees but had a weaker effect on young ones. Old forests had a significantly lower resistance to extreme drought but faster recovery compared to young forests. The “divergence problem” was more pronounced in younger forests due to their heightened sensitivity to warming-induced drought and heat stress. With ongoing warming, young forests also may initially experience a growth decline due to their heightened sensitivity to winter drought. Our findings underscore the importance of considering age-dependent changes in forest/tree growth response to warming in subtropical forest management, particularly in the context of achieving “Carbon Peak & Carbon Neutrality” goals in China.

Bushfires are devastating to forest managers, owners, residents, and the natural environment. Recent technological advances indicate a potential for faster response times in terms of detecting and suppressing fires. However, to date, all these technologies have been applied in isolation. This paper introduces the latest fire detection and suppression technologies from ground to space. An operations research method was used to assemble these technologies into a theoretical framework for fire detection and suppression. The framework harnesses the advantages of satellite-based, drone, sensor, and human reporting technologies as well as image processing and artificial intelligence machine learning. The study concludes that, if a system is designed to maximise the use of available technologies and carefully adopts them through complementary arrangements, a fire detection and resource suppression system can achieve the ultimate aim: to reduce the risk of fire hazards and the damage they may cause.

Anthropogenic disturbances are widespread in tropical forests and influence the species composition in the overstory. However, the impacts of historical disturbance on tropical forest overstory recovery are unclear due to a lack of disturbance data, and previous studies have focused on understory species. In this study, the purpose was to determine the influence of historical disturbance on the diversity, composition and regeneration of overstory species in present forests. In the 20-ha Xishuangbanna tropical seasonal rainforest dynamics plot in southwestern China, the historical disturbance boundaries were delineated based on panchromatic photographs from 1965. Factors that drove species clustering in the overstory layer (DBH ≥ 40 cm) were analyzed and the abundance, richness and composition of these species were compared among different tree groups based on multiple regression tree analysis. The coefficient of variation of the brightness value in historical panchromatic photographs from 1965 was the primary driver of species clustering in the overstory layer. The abundance and richness of overstory species throughout the regeneration process were similar, but species composition was always different. Although the proportion of large-seeded and vigorous-sprouting species showed no significant difference between disturbed and undisturbed forests in the treelet layer (DBH < 20 cm), the difference became significant when DBH increased. The findings highlight that historical disturbances have strong legacy effects on functional group composition in the overstory and the recovery of overstory species was multidimensional. Functional group composition can better indicate the dynamics of overstory species replacement during secondary succession.