Zhu Xiai, Shen Youxin, He Beibei, Zhao Zhimeng
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 3;7(1):12611. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13060-5.
Rock outcrop is an important habitat supporting plant communities in karst landscape. However, information on the restoration of higher biotic populations on outcrops is limited. Here, we investigated the diversity, biomass changes of higher vascular plants (VP) and humus soil (HS) on karst outcrops during a restoration process. We surveyed VP on rock outcrops and measured HS reserved by various rock microhabitats in a rock desertification ecosystem (RDE), an anthropogenic forest ecosystem (AFE), and a secondary forest ecosystem (SFE) in Shilin County, southwest China. HS metrics (e.g. quantity and nutrients content) and VP metrics (e.g. richness, diversity and biomass) were higher at AFE than at RDE, but lower than at SFE, suggesting that the restoration of soil subsystem vegetation increased HS properties and favored the succession of VP on rock outcrops. There was significantly positive correlation between VP metrics and HS amount, indicating that the succession of VP was strongly affected by availability and heterogeneity of HS in various rock microhabitats. Thus, floral succession of rock subsystem was slow owing to the limited resources on outcrops, although the vegetation was restored in soil subsystem.
岩石露头是喀斯特地貌中支持植物群落的重要栖息地。然而，关于露头上高等生物种群恢复的信息有限。在此，我们调查了喀斯特岩石露头在恢复过程中高等维管植物（VP）和腐殖土（HS）的多样性及生物量变化。我们在中国西南部石林县的一个石漠化生态系统（RDE）、一个人工林生态系统（AFE）和一个次生林生态系统（SFE）中，对岩石露头上的维管植物进行了调查，并测量了各种岩石微生境中保留的腐殖土。AFE的腐殖土指标（如数量和养分含量）和维管植物指标（如丰富度、多样性和生物量）高于RDE，但低于SFE，这表明土壤子系统植被的恢复增加了腐殖土特性，并有利于岩石露头上维管植物的演替。维管植物指标与腐殖土数量之间存在显著正相关，表明维管植物的演替受到各种岩石微生境中腐殖土可用性和异质性的强烈影响。因此，尽管土壤子系统中的植被得到了恢复，但由于露头上资源有限，岩石子系统的植物演替仍然缓慢。
