Kinetic energy of Throughfall in subtropical forests of SE China - effects of tree canopy structure, functional traits, and biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Throughfall kinetic energy (TKE) plays an important role in soil erosion in forests. We studied TKE as a function of biodiversity, functional diversity as well as structural stand variables in a secondary subtropical broad-leaved forest in the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve (GNNR) in south-east China, a biodiversity hotspot in the northern hemisphere with more than 250 woody species present. Using a mixed model approach we could identify significant effects of all these variables on TKE: TKE increased with rarefied tree species richness and decreased with increasing proportion of needle-leaved species and increasing leaf area index (LAI). Furthermore, for average rainfall amounts TKE was decreasing with tree canopy height whereas for high rainfall amounts this was not the case. The spa

SUBMITTER: Geißler C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3574125 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature