Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps

doi:10.1007/s11629-016-4328-1

CORC > 成都山地灾害与环境研究所 > 中国科学院水利部成都山地灾害与环境研究所 > Journal of Mountain Science > Journal of Mountain Science-2017 > Vol14 No.5

	Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps
	Jose V. MORIS; Giorgio VACCHIANO; Davide ASCOLI; Renzo MOTTA
刊名	Journal of Mountain Science
	2017-05
卷号	14 期号:5 页码:811-822
关键词	Resilience Ecosystem Bistability Elevation Land Use Natural Succession Pinus Cembra European Larch
ISSN号	1672-6316
DOI	10.1007/s11629-016-4328-1
通讯作者	Jose V. MORIS
文献子类	期刊论文
英文摘要	European larch (Larix decidua) forests of the western Alps form extensivecultural landscapes whose resilience to global changes is currently unknown. Resilience describes the capacity of ecological systems to maintain the same state, i.e., the same function, processes, structure, and composition despite disturbances, environmental changes and internal fluctuations. Our aim is to explore the resilience of larch forests to changes in climate and land use in the western Italian Alps.To do so, we examined whether larch forests can be described as an alternative stable state in mountain forest ecosystems. We used tree basal area data obtained from field forest inventories in combination with topography, forest structure, land use, and climate information. We applied three different probabilistic methods: frequency distributions, logistic regressions, and potential analyses to infer the resilience of larch forests relative to that of other forest types.We found patters indicative of alternative stable states: bimodality in the frequency distribution of the percent of larch basal area, and the presence of an unstable state, i.e., mixed larch forests, in the potential analyses. We also found: (1) high frequency ofpurelarchforestsathighelevation,(2)the probability of pure larch forests increased mostly with elevation, and(3) pure larch forests were a stable state in the upper montane and subalpine belts.Our study shows that the resilience of larch forests may increase with elevation, most likely due to the altitudinal effect on climate. Under the same climate conditions, land use seems to be the main factor governing the dominance of larch forests. In fact, subalpine larch forests may be more resilient, and natural succession after land abandonment, e.g., towards Pinus cembra forests, seems slower than in montane larch forests. In contrast, in the upper montane belt only intense land use regimes characterized by open canopies and forest grazing may maintain larch forests.We conclude that similar approaches could be applied in other forest ecosystems to infer the resilience of tree species.
语种	英语
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.imde.ac.cn/handle/131551/18709]
专题	Journal of Mountain Science _Journal of Mountain Science-2017_Vol14 No.5
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Jose V. MORIS,Giorgio VACCHIANO,Davide ASCOLI,et al. Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps[J]. Journal of Mountain Science,2017,14(5):811-822.
APA	Jose V. MORIS,Giorgio VACCHIANO,Davide ASCOLI,&Renzo MOTTA.(2017).Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps.Journal of Mountain Science,14(5),811-822.
MLA	Jose V. MORIS,et al."Alternative stable states in mountain forest ecosystems: the case of European larch (Larix decidua) forests in the western Alps".Journal of Mountain Science 14.5(2017):811-822.