title: Altered dynamics of broad-leaved tree species in a Chinese subtropical montane mixed forest: the role of an anomalous extreme 2008 ice storm episode.
abstract: Extreme climatic events can trigger gradual or abrupt shifts in forest ecosystems via the reduction or elimination of foundation species. However, the impacts of these events on foundation species' demography and forest dynamics remain poorly understood. Here we quantified dynamics for both evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved species groups, utilizing a monitoring permanent plot in a subtropical montane mixed forest in central China from 2001 to 2010 with particular relevance to the anomalous 2008 ice storm episode. We found that both species groups showed limited floristic alterations over the study period. For each species group, size distribution of dead individuals approximated a roughly irregular and flat shape prior to the ice storm and resembled an inverse J-shaped distribution after the ice storm. Furthermore, patterns of mortality and recruitment displayed disequilibrium behaviors with mortality exceeding recruitment for both species groups following the ice storm. Deciduous broad-leaved species group accelerated overall diameter growth, but the ice storm reduced evergreen small-sized diameter growth. We concluded that evergreen broad-leaved species were more susceptible to ice storms than deciduous broad-leaved species, and ice storm events, which may become more frequent with climate change, might potentially threaten the perpetuity of evergreen-dominated broad-leaved forests in this subtropical region in the long term. These results underscore the importance of long-term monitoring that is indispensible to elucidate causal links between forest dynamics and climatic perturbations.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China ; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jielin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Gaoming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Administration Bureau of Shennongjia National Nature Reserve Shennongjia, Hubei, 442421, China.
authors.forename: Zhixian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Changming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Guozhen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Wenting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences No.20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Zongqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
keywords: Diameter growth rate; frost damage; leaf habit; recruitment and mortality; the extreme climatic event