A New Advance on the Improvement of Forest Ecosystem Functions in the Karst Desertification Control
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Abstract:
In recent years, after the implementation of large-scale ecological restoration projects, karst areas in the South China Karst have become global “greening” hot spots. However, the biodiversity, ecosystem quality, and security patterns in karst areas are still severely affected. The reason for this is that despite the execution of karst desertification control projects, the lag mechanism of forest ecosystem functions and services is still unclear. Therefore, we analyze the progress in the research related to desertification control and the improvement of regional forest ecosystem function through a systematic literature review approach. The results show that the major landmarks achieved so far include the following aspects: based on the karst desertification control area, we have elucidated the driving factors of forest ecosystem change, discovered the ecological security pattern of landscape optimization and reconstruction, revealed the internal mechanism of forest system structure optimization and stability enhancement, overcome the technical constraints of forest water–fertilizer coupling, introduced a strategy for regulating functional traits to improve the growth and development of vegetation, proposed strategies to enhance carbon sequestration in forests and the efficiency of microbial carbon use, and created models and paths to realize the value of forest products. The key scientific issues to be addressed in the future mainly comprise the following: the effects of spatial heterogeneity on forest ecosystems, disturbances in landscape reconfiguration caused by human activities, the work mechanisms of the combination and configuration of the niche in structural optimization, the response of species configuration to the water cycle, the coupled relationship between biodiversity and soil properties, the screening and construction of the plant germplasm resource base, the functional trade-offs/synergistic mechanisms of karst forest ecosystems, the creation of policies for forest product in terms of rights, trading, and compensation, and systematic research on the extended industrial chain of forest ecosystems, its service potential, and so on.Keywords:
Desertification
Functional ecology
Restoration Ecology
Ecoforestry
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Forest gaps, which are formed by small-scale disturbances that often occur in forest communities, are the most dominant form of disturbance in many types of forests around the world and play an essential role in the dynamics of forest regeneration, plant diversity conservation, nutrient cycling, and forest succession. Forest gaps are one of the vital directions in forest research. Dynamic disturbance and vegetation regeneration are important elements of forest gap research. The research on forest gaps has a history spanning over 70 years, but there is a lack of a systematic overview of the process. Therefore, this review outlines the spatial changes in the whole process of forest gap development by systematically analyzing the occurrence, basic characteristics, micro-environmental changes, and the effects of forest gap disturbance processes on understory animals, plants, soil microorganisms, and forest regeneration and succession. The results contribute to a better understanding of forest gaps and their impacts on forest regeneration and management. Based on this, we remapped the forest gap process during forest succession. We suggest directions and recommendations for improvements in response to the dilemmas and challenges facing the future of forest gaps.
Forest dynamics
Understory
Secondary forest
Forest farming
Forest regeneration
Old-growth forest
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The forest is an important guarantee of human economic and social ecological security. The tree is the main part and the material base of forest ecological benefits. The tree of the ecological function is one of the main forest ecosystem primary productivity; trees are mineral elements cycle in forest ecosystems; trees can effectively increase the precipitation efficiency; trees are the cornerstone of forest ecosystem stability. To avoid major mistakes in the forestry ecological construction, we must look around trees and take the dominant position of the trees in the forest ecological as starting point
Functional ecology
Ecological stability
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Ecoforestry
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Forest gap is ubiquitous in both undisturbed and disturbed forest ecosystems, which drives the development of forest ecosystem, and affects the composition of plant species, stand structure and succession phase. The study of forest gap is of significance for the restoration and management of disturbed forest ecosystem. Based on a wide range of literature collection, the concept and characters of forest gap, variations of habitat conditions after gap formation, as well as the responses of plant species to forest gap and the research means on forest gap were summarized, which could be helpful to the forest ecosystem management and other related studies of forest science.
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Principles of forest ecosystem stability are fully analyzed and discussed from the angle of changeability of ecological components,reaction to disturbance,pattern of nutrients storage and flux and recycle of nutrients in forests.Meanwhile,four artificial forest ecosystems,including Robinia pseudoacacia,Larix gmelinii,Pinus tabulaeformis and Cunninghamia lanceolata,are studied typically about their nutritional conditions and stabilities.It shows that the four forest ecosystems take obtuse form as their main storage of nutrient.The amounts of N,P,K,Ca and Mg stored in soil take up more than 92% respectively of the responding storages of the total forest ecosystem.Further more,the nutrients in the soil retains balance or show slight deficit,whereas,the nutrients in the total forest ecosystems happen to slight surplus or retain balance.In addition,compared with others,the forest of R.pseudoacacia is one of high nutrient absorption,high returning,fast recycling and nutrient wasting,and due to the faster recycling of nutrient,the forest of R.pseudoacacia will have strong capability of restoration in case of minimal disturbance but be irretrievable under serious disturbance.Finally it is suggested that the biogeochemical classification of forests would be an important approach to study the functional stability of forest ecosystem.
Robinia
Biogeochemical Cycle
Nutrient cycle
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From,health,forest landscape,ecology function analyses and so on nature,Leigong protectorate forest ecosystem,although the artificial active disturbance,still has the forest type diverse essential feature,is maintaining the good forest ecosystem structure and the function.
Protectorate
Functional ecology
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Functional ecology
Ecoforestry
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The development courses of forest ecosystem health theory were reviewed,and the connotations,restoration,and reconstruction were discussed systematically.Based on the summary of the practice of alien forest health,some main factors which have effects on forest health have been pointed out,for example human activities,simplification of habitat and fragmentation of forest system,management modes of forest,natural disturbance,invasion of exotic species,environment pollution,and forest biological disaster and so on.The main problems existing in forest health of our country were analyzed in detail.According to the structure, function,current situation,and health status of our country forest ecosystem and the micro-strategy goal of forest ecological construction,more pertinence research activities should be carried out for such a forest health link as follows: construction and reconstruction,transformation and restoration,production management and utilization,and prevention forest pests.In the meantime,sustainable controlling forest pests,improving immunity capacity of forest ecosystem,preventing air pollution and forest fire,and decreasing forest biological disaster due to environment factors should be implemented.
Ecoforestry
Forest Health
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Forest degradation has become a worldwide problem.Forest resources can provide many needed resources and raw materials,continuous air purification,as well as soil and water conservation.However,a large area of tree felling has led to the substantial decrease of forest area,resulting in land desertification and a series of environmental problems.The forest degradation has become a serious problem human must solve.Hence,the evaluation of degraded forest ecosystem restoration becomes the reliable reference data.This paper evaluates and analyses China's forest ecosystem restoration,and puts forward related suggestions for the forest resources protection in the hope of providing a cetain reference to solve the problem.
Desertification
Felling
Ecoforestry
Restoration Ecology
Environmental degradation
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Restoration Ecology
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