The Plant Functional Groups And Succession Characteristics Of Dominant Populations And Its Response To Disturbance In An Evergreen Secondary Broad-leaved Forest Of Wuchao Mountain

Plant functional traits represent a set of plant characteristics that are closely associated with colonization,survival,growth,reproduction,and mortality during habitat adaptation.Recently,functional trait-based analysis has provided new perspectives for studying community ecology and helping to understand plant-habitat interrelationships.To understand the community structure and succession characteristics of Wuchao Mountain secondary forest,we analyzed niche and interspecific relationships of functional groups presenting succession stages,which provides a theoretical basis for the conservation of secondary forests to accelerate succession and restore ecosystem functions.We investigated woody plants with diameter at breast height ≥ 1 cm in 20×20m forest samples in the study area.Eleven functional traits were measured including leaf nitrogen content,leaf phosphorus content,leaf kalium content,specific leaf area,woody density,leaf dry matter content,chlorophyll content,growth form,longevity,shade tolerance,and maximum potential height,which were used to classify functional groups,and interspecific associations will be used to analyze the interspecific relationships of the dominant species.Based on functional group and interspecies relationships,30 plots at similar altitudes in the evergreen secondary forest of Wuchao Mountain were used as test subjects.The effects of different care intensities on communityweight plant functional traits and functional diversity were analyzed by conducting 10%-15% and20%-25% intensity tending experiments on forest stands according to the proportion of basal area respectively.Main findings include:(1)The 45 species were grouped into four functional groups,such as early successional species(PFG1),mid successional species(PFG2),mid and late successional species(PFG3),and late successional species(PFG4).The result represents the transition from early successional to late successional species,respectively,and the species’ traits transition from light-loving,short-lived,low leaf nutrients and low wood density to shade-tolerant,long-lived,high leaf nutrients and high wood density.(2)The results of the interspecific association showed that the ratio of positive and negative association was close to 1,and the significant positive pairs were greater than the significant negative pairs,which indicated that the community was in a relatively stable succession statue.However,the values of niches overlap and interspecific association among PFG2,PGF3,and PFG4 were high and interspecific competition was intense.(3)Insignificant changes in functional traits of plants at the community level were significant after the nurture;at 10%-15% intensity tending,none of the functional diversity of the community changed significantly;while at 20%-25% intensity tending,functional richness and functional dispersion decreased significantly,and functional evenness and functional separation increased significantly.(4)Our results suggest that the forest community of Wuchao Mountain is developing towards the later stage of succession.To restore forest ecosystems and accelerate succession,thinning of the early species competing with late species could be undertaken and commercial pioneer species could be used to reduce the amount of opening area.In addition,the implementation of the two types of intensity tending measures can speed up the recovery of secondary forests to old-growth forests in the Wuchao Mountains,and the overall utilization of resources in the fostered forest community is more rational.