| The effects of different natural disturbances on bamboo growth and performance, and the small-scale spatial patterns of bamboos were studied in Foping National Natural Reserve (FNNR) and Taibaishan National Natural Reserve (TNNR) in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, China.; The results of the study of mass-flowering event of Fargesia qinlingensis in a watershed in TNNR showed that density of live culms decreased over three years in both flowering sites and un-flowered patches. Heavy seed predation supported the predator satiation hypothesis. The better growth and greater survival rates of seedlings in flowering sites than in un-flowered patches supported the intraspecific competition hypothesis. The allocation of energy to reproduction decreased energy allocated to vegetative organs.; In greenhouse condition, nitrogen fertilization significantly increased seedling growth, and also compensated for shading on biomass allocation, implying that nitrogen fertilization could be adopted in management for restoration of F. qinlingensis after die-off events.; Panda foraging was biased toward thicker culms and biased away from thin bamboo culms of F. qinlingensis. I found no evidence of a 'fertilizer effect' following panda foraging, suggesting that panda foraging had a negative affect on ramet recruitment.; In a mixed hardwood-conifer forest, F. qinlingensis showed morphological plasticity in different size of gaps, suggesting light is a limiting factor on bamboo growth in the Qinling Mountains, and that gaps favor bamboo growth. Canopy species and gapmakers suggested a strong successional trend from the second-growth Abies-Betula dominated forest to shade-tolerant Acer-dominated forest. Current forest composition suggests historical large-scale disturbance. The gap had a stalled-gap regeneration pathway.; Small scale spatial pattern of B. fargesii showed an every-other-year pattern of foraging by giant panda. Culms (live and dead) and live shoots of both F. qinlingensis and B. fargesii were aggregately or randomly distributed in space. Shoot distribution in space either resulted from the characteristics of clonal growth or resource limitation depending on species and scale. Variography revealed spatially explicit structure of culms (live and dead) and live shoots, and revealed repeated patterns in space. The quality of giant panda habitat varied from year to year in terms of shoot production and culm spatial patterns. |
