Impacts of disturbances on alpine timberline reformation

Abstract

Abstract: With special ecological structures and functions,alpine timberline,a kind of ecotones highly sensitive to disturbances and environmental changes,has become one of the major concerns in global climate change studies.After reviewing the definitions of alpine timberline,this paper discussed the impacts of disturbances on the reformation of timberline from the aspects of its changes in elevation position,vegetation pattern,species composition,and physiological characteristics.It was suggested that the responses of alpine timberline species to disturbances could be basically summarized in two ways:(1) withdrawing: tree species are replaced by new species(usually herbaceous or bushes) after disturbance,and the tree species will withdraw(downward) or disappear;and(2) inbreaking: non-constructive species replace constructive(keystone) species or spread to surrounding area,especially upward along the altitude.The potential increase of timberline resulted from climate warming is compromised to some extend as a result of disturbances.Therefore,distinguishing various disturbances and their effects with climate change is crucial to understanding not only the reformation process of timberline,but also the causes of current vegetation formation in the areas as well.

Key words: individual size inequality, thinning regime, crop tree release, Lorenz asymmetry coefficient.

CLC Number:

Q948.1

FANG Jinqi, WU Ning, LUO Peng, YI Shaoliang. Impacts of disturbances on alpine timberline reformation[J]. cje, 2005, (12): 1493-1498.

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