Topography-associated thermal gradient predicts warming effects on woody plant structural diversity in a subtropical forest.

ABSTRACT: Understanding global warming effects on forest ecosystems will help policy-makers and forest managers design forest management and biodiversity conservation strategies. We examined the change in woody plant structural diversity in response to topography-associated thermal gradients in a subtropical forest with diverse abundance patterns. We found that energy distribution in a warming trend across slopes had significant effects on woody plant structural diversity. Except for total basal area of the adult trees, plant structural diversity significantly decreased with the increase of heat load. Heat load is significantly and negatively correlated with number of stems, number of species, and the number of stems of the most abundant species (N_max) for seedlings, saplings, and individ

SUBMITTER: He S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5220297 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature