Seasonal Dynamics of Litterfall in a Sub-Alpine Spruce-Fir Forest on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Allometric Scaling Relationships Based on One Year of Observations
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Litter Collection
2.3. Litterfall Component Categories
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Litter Production and Litter Components
3.2. Litterfall Dynamics
3.3. Evergreen Versus Deciduous
3.4. Tree Versus Shrub Litter Production
3.5. Allometric Scaling Relationships of Litterfall
4. Discussion
4.1. Annual Litter Production
4.2. Litterfall Dynamics
4.3. Evergreen Versus Deciduous, Tree Versus Shrub
4.4. Litter Components and Allometric Scaling Relationships
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Component Categories | Mean ± SD (kg·ha−1·year−1) | Percentage (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Foliar litter a † | needle | 1263 ± 78 | 53.1 a |
leaf | 488 ± 236 | 20.5 b | |
Woody litter b | twig | 363 ± 145 | 15.2 bc |
bark | 9 ± 3 | 0.4 d | |
Reproductive litter b | flower | 14 ± 7 | 0.6 cd |
fruit and seed | 57 ± 17 | 2.4 cd | |
Epiphytic litter b | \ | 31 ± 18 | 1.3 cd |
Miscellaneous b | \ | 155 ± 40 | 6.5 cd |
Total | \ | 2380 ± 510 | 100.00 |
Foliar Litter | Twig | Bark | Fruit and Seed | Flower | Epiphytic Litter | Miscellaneous | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Twig | 0.596 ** | 1 | |||||
Bark | 0.386 ** | 0.477 ** | 1 | ||||
Fruit and seed | 0.349 ** | 0.519 ** | 0.467 ** | 1 | |||
Flower | 0.157 | 0.097 | 0.392 ** | 0.327 * | 1 | ||
Epiphytic litter | 0.214 | 0.195 | 0.107 | 0.068 | −0.042 | 1 | |
Miscellaneous | 0.752 ** | 0.707 ** | 0.465 ** | 0.407 ** | 0.188 | 0.238 | 1 |
Litter Components | Sampling Time | Species | Sampling Time × Species | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F Value | p Value | F Value | p Value | F Value | p Value | |
Foliar litter | 5.64 | <0.001 | 1.92 | 0.009 | 2.67 | <0.001 |
Twig litter | 0.45 | 0.92 | 2.05 | 0.009 | 1.68 | <0.001 |
Bark litter | 0.62 | 0.80 | 1.31 | 0.17 | 0.61 | 1.00 |
Fruit and seed litter | 0.60 | 0.81 | 1.01 | 0.44 | 1.48 | 0.009 |
Flower litter | 5.85 | <0.001 | 8.05 | 0.009 | 4.13 | <0.001 |
Total litter | 3.48 | <0.001 | 2.78 | <0.001 | 3.35 | <0.001 |
Species | Peak (%) | Valley (%) | PVR |
---|---|---|---|
Vertical structure | |||
Tree species | 32.7 ± 3.2 | 1.3 ± 0.8 | 25.2 ± 4.5 |
Shrub species | 4.1 ± 1.2 | 0.01 ± 0.01 | 410.0 ± 178.1 |
Functional type | |||
Evergreen species | 22.7 ± 4.8 | 1.3 ± 0.9 | 17.5 ± 6.1 |
Deciduous species | 14.6 ± 3.4 | 0.03 ± 0.1 | 486.7 ± 98.5 |
Comparison | n | R2 | β (95%CI) | logγ (95%CI) | Test if β Equals a Specific Value (β0 = 1), F |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Litter components | |||||
LF∝LT | 60 | 0.98 ** | 0.99 (0.95, 1.03) | −0.1 (−0.18, −0.01) | 0.54 |
LW∝LT | 60 | 0.63 ** | 1.40 (1.19, 1.64) | −1.96 (−2.46, −1.47) | 18.14 ** |
LR∝LT | 60 | 0.31 ** | 0.98 (0.79, 1.22) | −1.66 (−2.14, −1.19) | 0.03 |
LE∝LT | 60 | 0.04 | 0.93 (0.72, 1.19) | −1.88 (−2.42, −1.34) | 0.36 |
LM∝LT | 60 | 0.74 ** | 0.82 (0.71, 0.93) | −0.71 (−0.95, −0.46) | 9.15 ** |
LF∝LW | 60 | 0.53 ** | 0.71 (0.59, 0.84) | 1.29 (1.11, 1.46) | 15.64 ** |
LF∝LR | 60 | 0.28 ** | 1.00 (0.80, 1.25) | 1.57 (1.39, 1.76) | 0.001 |
LF∝LE | 60 | 0.04 | 1.06 (0.83, 1.37) | 1.9 (1.69, 2.11) | 0.24 |
LF∝LM | 60 | 0.65 ** | 1.21 (1.03, 1.41) | 0.76 (0.54, 0.97) | 5.96 * |
LW∝LR | 60 | 0.31 ** | 1.42 (1.15, 1.77) | 0.40 (0.15, 0.65) | 10.89 ** |
LW∝LE | 60 | 0.05 | 1.51 (1.17, 1.94) | 0.87 (0.58, 1.156) | 10.91 ** |
LW∝LM | 60 | 0.65 ** | 1.71 (1.46, 2.00) | −0.75 (−1.06, −0.45) | 51.97 ** |
LR∝LE | 60 | 0.08 * | 1.06 (0.83, 1.36) | 0.33 (0.13, 0.52) | 0.22 |
LR∝LM | 60 | 0.34 ** | 1.20 (0.97, 1.49) | −0.81 (−1.11, −0.51) | 3.03 |
LE∝LM | 60 | 0.05 | 1.13 (0.88, 1.46) | −1.08 (−1.43, −0.51) | 0.97 |
Tree versus shrub | |||||
Lty∝LT | 60 | 0.96 ** | 1.05 (1.00, 1.11) | −0.22 (−0.34, −0.09) | 3.57 |
Lsy∝LT | 60 | 0.05 | 1.32 (1.03, 1.70) | −2.37 (−3.14, −1.60) | 4.83 * |
Lty∝Lsy | 60 | 0.01 | 0.80 (0.62, 1.03) | 1.68 (1.43, 1.93) | 3.04 |
Evergreen versus deciduous | |||||
Lev∝LT | 60 | 0.83 ** | 1.14 (1.02, 1.27) | −0.52 (−0.80, −0.25) | 5.89 * |
Lde∝LT | 60 | 0.35 ** | 1.58 (1.28, 1.94) | −2.24 (−2.98, −1.50) | 19.73 ** |
Lev∝Lde | 60 | 0.13 * | 0.72 (0.57, 0.92) | 1.10 (0.81, 1.38) | 7.19 * |
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Fu, C.; Yang, W.; Tan, B.; Xu, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Yang, J.; Ni, X.; Wu, F. Seasonal Dynamics of Litterfall in a Sub-Alpine Spruce-Fir Forest on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Allometric Scaling Relationships Based on One Year of Observations. Forests 2017, 8, 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8090314
Fu C, Yang W, Tan B, Xu Z, Zhang Y, Yang J, Ni X, Wu F. Seasonal Dynamics of Litterfall in a Sub-Alpine Spruce-Fir Forest on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Allometric Scaling Relationships Based on One Year of Observations. Forests. 2017; 8(9):314. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8090314
Chicago/Turabian StyleFu, Changkun, Wanqin Yang, Bo Tan, Zhenfeng Xu, Yu Zhang, Jiaping Yang, Xiangyin Ni, and Fuzhong Wu. 2017. "Seasonal Dynamics of Litterfall in a Sub-Alpine Spruce-Fir Forest on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau: Allometric Scaling Relationships Based on One Year of Observations" Forests 8, no. 9: 314. https://doi.org/10.3390/f8090314