| Litterfall is a critical part of nutrient cycling in forest systems. In the past several years, many large-scale forest dynamics plots had been set up to carry out long-term monitoring in tropical forests, but similar studies in subtropical forests were just at the beginning in China. In this paper, temporal dynamics of litterfall, litterfall spatial pattern, effect of ice storm on litterfall, and the relationship between litterfall and plant community in a subtropical evergreen board-leaved forest at a 24-ha forest dynamics plot in Gutianshan National Natural Reserve in East China, were conducted over 3 years.The temporal dynamics of litterfall showed some regular patterns of litterfall peaks. Both total litterfall and leaf litter had double peaks, twig litter and bark litter showed irregular peaks, while miscellanea litter had single peak. And there were two litterfall patterns along the temporal sequence of leaf litter in each year:one in growing season (around April) and the other in autumn-winter (late October-early December). The temporal sequence of Castanopsis eyrei, Schima superba, Neolitsea aurata, Rhododendron ovatum, Distylium myricoides and other evergreen species showed two patterns, while Pinus massoniana, Quercus serrata var. brevipetiolata, R. simsii and other deciduous species only displayed the second pattern.The spatial pattern of litterfall was determined by community types, water percentage in soil, wind, and so on. Annual litterfall of both leaf and twig was found higher on the ridge, which was mostly because of low water percentage on the ridge. Annual litterfall of bark was detected highest in the low altitude valley, furthermore, lowest in mid-slope. Annual litterfall of miscellanea was highest in low altitude valley before the ice storm, on the contrary, highest on the high altitude ridge after the ice storm, which provided evidence that the ice storm may change the distribution and density of insects in different habitat types. And we suggested that the differences of leaf litter of each species in different habitat types were mostly determined by the natural distribution of the species.After the ice storm, the community in the plot was badly damaged, which also caused the change of litterfall. The litterfall of both leaf and twig decreased significantly. But the litterfall of both bark and miscellanea changed non-significantly. The leaf litter production of C. eyrei, D. myricoides and other evergreen species decreased significantly, so as S. superba, which certificated evergreen species were badly damaged after the ice storm. And the litter production from August to November also showed tremendous decline.Leaf dispersal distances of different species were variable, because of the difference of leaf characteristics (specific leaf area, leaf shape, leaf weight, and so on), tree height, spatial distribution, wind. C. eyrei and S. superba were dominant species in tree layer, P. massoniana was co-dominant species in tree layer, and Q. serrata var. brevipetiolata was dominant species in tree layer in the ridge. Leaves of C. eyrei and Q. serrata var. brevipetiolata could disperse 12 meters, while leaves of S. superba and P. massoniana could disperse 6 meters and 4 meters, respectively. N. aurata and D. myricoides were dominant species in sub-tree layer, N. aurata distributed on the mid-slope and low slope, and D. myricoides distributed in the valley. Leaves of these two species could disperse 5 meters either. R. ovatum and R. simsii were dominant species in shrub layer, R. ovatum distributed on the slope, and R. simsii distributed on the ridge. Leaves of R. ovatum and R. simsii could disperse 7 meters and 5 meters, respectively. |
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