title: To What Extent Local Forest Soil Pollen Can Assist Restoration in Subtropical China?
abstract: Long-term ecological data play a vital role in ecological conservation and restoration, however, using information from local forest soil pollen data to assist restoration remains a challenge. This study analyzed two data sets, including 1) surface soil pollen (0-5 cm) and current vegetation data from four near-natural communities and four plantations, and 2) fossil pollen from soil profiles (0-80 cm) from a regional climax community and a degraded land. The pollen representativeness and similarity indexes were calculated. The results showed a low similarity between soil pollen and current vegetation (about 20%) thus forest soil pollen data should be used with caution when defining reference ecosystems. Pollen from Gironniera and Rutaceae which were abundant in broadleaved forest, were also detected in the 40-80 cm layer of a soil profile from the degraded land, which indicates its restoration possibility. Our study considered that the early restoration stage of the study area may benefit from using plant taxa of Pinus, Poaceae, Lonicera, Casuarina, Trema and Quercus. As Pinus, Castanopsis, Gironniera, Rutaceae, Helicia, Randia, Poaceae, Dicranopteris and Pteris always existed during succession, for regional forest restoration under global climate change, the roles of such "stable species" should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Open Laboratory of Geospatial Information Technology and Application, Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou, 510070, China.|Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China.
authors.forename: Zhongyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, USDA Forest Service, RTP, NC 27709, USA.
authors.forename: Qinfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Paleobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.
authors.forename: Junwu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D065928:Forests; D011058:Pollen; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil