Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial pattern dynamics among co-dominant populations in early secondary forests in Southwest China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Forestry Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The canopy of subtropical natural forests usually consists of several co-dominant populations (CDPs), which play a crucial role in forest structure, formation of the forest environment, and ecological function. However, little attention has been given to changes in spatial patterns in CDPs during natural succession. Cyclobalanopsis glauca (Thunb.) Oerst., Quercus variabilis Blume, and Pinus yunnanensis var. tenuifolia W.C. Cheng & Y.W. Law are canopy species that form CDPs in zonal forests along the Nanpan River in southwest China. We used the g(r) function and its bivariate distribution model, g12(r), which is based on distances between pairs of points, to explore the dynamics of the three CDP species with respect to distribution patterns and spatial correlations in two secondary forests (one 30-year-old forest [30-YF] and one 57-year-old forest [57-YF]). The following key results were obtained: (1) there was a clumped pattern in the 30-YF, but the intensity of aggregation varied among populations and life stages. The distribution pattern gradually shifted to become random with longer succession time (i.e., 30-YF vs. 57-YF), expansion of the observation scale (r = 0–20 m), and at later life stages. (2) Aside from the mid-sized C. glauca trees and large P. yunnanensis trees, the trees repulsed each other at certain scales (r = 0–2, 5–6, 11–12, 14–16 m) in the 30-YF. Almost all of the life stages in the CDPs were independently correlated. This independent correlation was exacerbated by a longer succession time. (3) An increase in life stages and longer succession also promoted independent changes in intraspecific correlations. (4) Intraspecific correlations were stronger than interspecific correlations. Our results showed that reducing exclusive competition is essential to coexistence in CDPs. Inter- and intra-specific repulsion may occur at the same time, but intraspecific repulsion was the main driving force behind the random distributions and independent correlations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler PB, Smull D, Beard KH, Choi RT, Furniss T, Kulmatiski A, Meiners JM, Tredennick AT, Veblen KE (2018) Competition and coexistence in plant communities: intraspecific competition is stronger than interspecific competition. Ecol Lett 21(9):1319–1329

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich PR, Parker GR, Ward JS, Michler CH (2003) Spatial dispersion of trees in an old-growth temperate hardwood forest over 60 years of succession. Forest Ecol Manag 180(1–3):475–491

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley A, Rubak E, Turner R (2015) Spatial point patterns: methodology and applications with R. CRC Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagchi R, Henrys PA, Brown PE, Burslem DFP, Diggle PJ, Gunatilleke CS, Gunatilleke IAUN, Kassim AR, Law R, Noor S, Valencia RL (2011) Spatial patterns reveal negative density dependence and habitat associations in tropical trees. Ecology 92(9):1723–1729

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bieng MAN, Perot T, Coligny FD, Goreaud F (2013) Spatial pattern of trees influences species productivity in a mature oak–pine mixed forest. Eur J Forest Res 132(5–6):841–850

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyden S, Binkley D, Shepperd W (2005) Spatial and temporal patterns in structure, regeneration, and mortality of an old-growth ponderosa pine forest in the Colorado Front Range. Forest Ecol Manag 219(1):43–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark DB, Clark DA, Rich PM (1993) Comparative analysis of microhabitat utilization by saplings of nine tree species in Neotropical Rain Forest. Biotropica 25(4):397–407

    Google Scholar 

  • Condit R, Ashton PS, Baker P, Bunyavejchewin S, Gunatilleke S, Gunatilleke N, Hubbell SP, Foster RB, Itoh A, LaFrankie JV, Lee HS, Losos E, Manokaran N, Sukumar R, Yamakura T (2000) Spatial patterns in the distribution of tropical tree species. Science 288:1414–1417

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cutler NA, Belyea LR, Dugmore AJ (2008) The spatiotemporal dynamics of a primary succession. J Ecol 96(2):231–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Eddy VDM (1996) Pattern and process in the plant community: fifty years after A.S. Watt. J Veg Sci 7:19–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez C, Voiriot S, Mévy J-P, Vila B, Ormeño E, Dupouyet S, Bousquet-Mélou A (2008) Regeneration failure of Pinus halepensis Mill.: the role of autotoxicity and some abiotic environmental parameters. Forest Ecol Manag 255:2928–2936

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester DI (2019) Linking forest growth with stand structure: tree size inequality, tree growth or resource partitioning and the asymmetry of competition. Forest Ecol Manag 447:139–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin JF, Shugart HH, Harmon ME (1987) Tree death as an ecological process. Bioscience 37:550–556

    Google Scholar 

  • Getzin S, Dean C, He F, Trofymow JA, Wiegand K, Wiegand T (2006) Spatial patterns and competition of tree species in a Douglas-fir chronosequence on Vancouver Island. Ecography 29(5):671–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Getzin S, Wiegand T, Wiegand K, He F (2008) Heterogeneity influences spatial patterns and demographics in forest stands. J Ecol 96(4):807–820

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo Y, Lu Z, Wang Q, Lu J, Xu Y, Meng H, Liu H, Zhang J, Bao D, Qiao X, Huang H, Jiang M (2015) Detecting density dependence from spatial patterns in a heterogeneous subtropical forest of central China. Can J Forest Res 45:710–720

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao Z, Zhang J, Song B, Ye J, Li B (2007) Vertical structure and spatial associations of dominant tree species in an old-growth temperate forest. Forest Ecol Manag 252:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • He F, Duncan RP (2000) Density-dependent effects on tree survival in an old-growth Douglas fir forest. J Ecol 88(4):676–688

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoshino D, Nishimura N, Yamamoto S (2001) Age, Size structure and spatial pattern of major tree species in an old-growth Chamaecyparis obtuse forest, Central Japan. Forest Ecol Manag 152(1–3):31–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurst JM, Stewart GH, Perry GLW, Wiser SK, Norton DA (2012) Determinants of tree mortality in mixed old-growth Nothofagus forest. Forest Ecol Manag 270:189–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang H, Zheng Y, Liu S, Chai Z, Chang M, Hu Y, Li G, Wang D (2017) Population structure and spatial pattern of predominant tree species in a pine–oak mosaic mixed forest in the Qinling Mountains, China. J Plant Interact 12(1):78–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenkel NC (1988) Pattern of self-thinning in Jack Pine: testing the random mortality hypothesis. Ecology 69(4):1017–1024

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubota Y, Kubo H, Shimatani K (2007) Spatial pattern dynamics over 10 years in a conifer/broadleaved forest, northern Japan. Plant Ecol 190(1):143–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Zhang G (2015) Population structure and spatial pattern of the endemic and endangered subtropical tree Parrotia subaequalis (Hamamelidaceae). Flora 212:10–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Chen J, Ren H, Mi X, Yu M, Yang B (2010) Spatial patterns of Castanopsis eyrei and Schima superba in mid-subtropical broadleaved evergreen forest in Gutianshan National Reserve, China. Chin J Plant Ecol 34(3):241–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Hui G, Zhao Z, Hu Y (2012) The bivariate distribution characteristics of spatial structure in natural Korean pine broad-leaved forest. J Veg Sci 23(10):1180–1190

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Hui G, Yu S, Luo Y, Yao X, Ye S (2017) Nearest neighbour relationships in Pinus yunnanensis var. tenuifolia forests along the Nanpan River, China. iForest 10(4):746–753

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, He J, Yu S, Zhu D, Wang H, Ye S (2019) Spatial structure of the vertical layers in a subtropical secondary forest 57a after clear-cutting. iForest 12:442–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, He J, Yu S, Wang H, Ye S (2020) Spatial structures of different-sized tree species in a secondary forest in the early succession stage. Eur J Forest Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01280-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin Y, Augspurger CK (2008) Long-term spatial dynamics of Acer saccharum during a population explosion in an old-growth remnant forest in Illinois. Forest Ecol Manag 256(5):922–928

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin YC, Chang LW, Yang KC, Wang HH, Sun IF (2011) Point patterns of tree distribution determined by habitat heterogeneity and dispersal limitation. Oecologia 165(1):175–184

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu P, Wang W, Bai Z, Guo Z, Ren W, Huang J, Xu Y, Yao J, Ding Y, Zang R (2020) Competition and facilitation co-regulate the spatial patterns of boreal tree species in Kanas of Xinjiang, northwest China. Forest Ecol Manag 467:118167

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo Z, Mi X, Chen X, Ye Z, Ding B (2012) Density dependence is not very prevalent in a heterogeneous subtropical forest. Oikos 121:1239–1250

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz JA, Halpern CB (2006) Tree mortality during early forest development: a long-term study of rates, causes, and consequences. Ecol Monogr 76(2):257–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz JA, Larson AJ, Furniss TJ, Donato DC, Freund JA, Swanson ME, Bible KJ, Chen J, Franklin JF (2014) Spatially nonrandom tree mortality and ingrowth maintain equilibrium pattern in an old-growth Pseudotsuga-Tsuga forest. Ecology 95(8):2047–2054

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miao N, Xu H, Moermond TC, Li Y, Liu S (2018) Density-dependent and distance-dependent effects in a 60-ha tropical mountain rain forest in the Jianfengling Mountains, Hainan Island, China: spatial pattern analysis. Forest Ecol Manag 429:226–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Muvengwi J, Mbiba M, Chikumbindi J, Ndagurwa HGT, Mureva A (2018) Population structure and spatial point-pattern analysis of a mono stand of Acacia polyacantha along a catena in a savanna ecosystem. Forest Ecol Manag 409:499–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton PF, Jolliffe PA (1998) Assessing processes of intraspecific competition within spatially heterogeneous black spruce stands. Can J For Res 28:259–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen HH, Erfanifard Y, Pham VD, Le XT, Bui TD, Petritan IC (2018) Spatial Association and Diversity of Dominant Tree Species in Tropical Rainforest. Vietnam. Forests 9(615):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Omelko A, Ukhvatkina O, Zhmerenetsky A, Sibirina L, Petrenko T, Bobrovsky M (2018) From young to adult trees: how spatial patterns of plants with different life strategies change during age development in an old-growth Korean pine broadleaved forest. Forest Ecol Manag 411:46–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Petritan IC, Marzano R, Petritan AM, Lingua E (2014) Overstory succession in a mixed Quercus petraea–Fagus sylvatica old growth forest revealed through the spatial pattern of competition and mortality. Forest Ecol Manag 326:9–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Piao T, Comita LS, Jin G, Kim JH (2013) Density dependence across multiple life stages in a temperate old-growth forest of northeast China. Oecologia 172(1):207–217

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piao T, Chun JH, Yang HM, Cheon K (2014) Negative Density Dependence Regulates Two Tree Species at Later Life Stage in a Temperate Forest. PLoS ONE 9(7):e103344

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pommerening A, Meador AJS (2018) Tamm review: tree interactions between myth and reality. Forest Ecol Manag 42:4164–4176

    Google Scholar 

  • Schröder B, Seppelt R (2006) Analysis of pattern–process interactions based on landscape models—overview, general concepts, and methodological issues. Ecol Model 199:505–516

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2019) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org

  • Torimaru T, Akada S, Ishida K, Matsuda S, Narita M (2013) Spatial associations among major tree species in a cool-temperate forest community under heterogeneous topography 2and canopy conditions. Popul Eco 55(2):261–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X (1987) A preliminary study of Pinus yunnanensis var. tenuifolia formation of Guangxi. B Bot Res 7(1):127–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang T, Ren S, Yuan Z, Zhu Y, Pan N, Li L, Ye Y (2014) Effects of density dependence on the spatial patterns of Quercus aliena var. acuteserrata trees in deciduous broad-leaved forest in the Baotianman Nature Reserve, central China. Biodivers Sci 22(4):449–457

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Wan P, Wang Q, Liu L, Zhang G, Hui G (2017) Prevalence of inter-tree competition and its role in shaping the community structure of a natural mongolian scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) Forest. Forests 8(84):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JS, Parker GR, Ferrandino FJ (1996) Long-term spatial dynamics in an old-growth deciduous forest. Forest Ecol Manag 83(3):189–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt AS (1947) Pattern and process in the plant community. J Ecol 35(1/2):1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiegand T, Moloney KA (2014) Handbook of spatial point pattern analysis in ecology. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Chen L, Guo Q, Nie D, Bai X, Jiang Y (1999) Research on changes of dominant tree population distribution patterns during developmental processes of a climax forest community. Acta Phytoecol Sin 23:256–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Q, Bi R, Zhang J, Nyobe L, Miao Y, Liu X (2012) Dynamic analysis on spatial pattern of dominant tree species of cold-temperate coniferous forest in the succession process in the Pangquangou Nature Reserve. Acta Ecol Sin 32(18):5713–5720

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Kang X, Meng J, Zhang L (2015) Distribution patterns and associations of dominant tree species in a mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest in the Changbai mountains. J MT SCI-ENGL 12(3):659–670

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Y, Mi X, Ren H, Ma K (2010) Density dependence is prevalent in a heterogeneous subtropical forest. Oikos 119(1):109–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu Y, Comita LS, Hubbel SP, Ma K (2015) Conspecific and phylogenetic density-dependent survival differs across life stages in a tropical forest. J Ecol 103:957–966

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Guangxi Yachang National Orchids Natural Reserve Bureau and Guangxi Yachang State-owned Forest Farm for providing comprehensive field services.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, People’s Republic of China

    Yuanfa Li, Minghui Li, Hongxiang Wang, Sufang Yu & Shaoming Ye

  2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, People’s Republic of China

    Yuanfa Li & Shaoming Ye

  3. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada

    Yuanfa Li & Angang Ming

  4. Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Pingxiang, 532600, People’s Republic of China

    Angang Ming

Authors
  1. Yuanfa Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Minghui Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Angang Ming
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hongxiang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Sufang Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Shaoming Ye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shaoming Ye.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Project funding: This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0502101-04), the Guangxi Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. Guike AB16380254), the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31400542) and Guangxi Special Fund Project for Innovation-driven Development (Grant No. AA 17204087-8).

The online version is available at http://www.springerlink.com.

Corresponding editor: Yu Lei.

Yuanfa Li and Shaoming Ye made equal contributions to this paper.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 111 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Y., Li, M., Ming, A. et al. Spatial pattern dynamics among co-dominant populations in early secondary forests in Southwest China. J. For. Res. 32, 1373–1384 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01207-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01207-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation