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Effective seed distribution pattern of an upward shift species in alpine tundra of Changbai Mountains

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Abstract

The vegetation of alpine tundra in the Changbai Mountains has experienced great changes in recent decades. Narrowleaf small reed (Deyeuxia angustifolia), a perennial herb from the birch forest zone had crossed the tree line and invaded into the alpine tundra zone. To reveal the driven mechanism of D. angustifolia invasion, there is an urgent need to figure out the effective seed distribution pattern, which could tell us where the potential risk regions are and help us to interpret the invasion process. In this study, we focus on the locations of the seeds in the soil layer and mean to characterize the effective seed distribution pattern of D. angustifolia. The relationship between the environmental variables and the effective seed distribution pattern was also assessed by redundancy analysis. Results showed that seeds of D. angustifolia spread in the alpine tundra with a considerable number (mean value of 322 per m2). They were mainly distributed in the low elevation areas with no significant differences in different slope positions. Effective seed number (ESN) occurrences of D. angustifolia were different in various plant communities. Plant communities with lower canopy cover tended to have more seeds of D. angustifolia. Our research indicated reliable quantitative information on the extent to which habitats are susceptible to invasion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China

    Shengwei Zong, Jiawei Xu, Zhengfang Wu & Hongshi He

  2. Geography Institution, Kiel University, D-24098, Kiel, Germany

    Eckart Dege

  3. School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Missouri, MO, 65211, USA

    Hongshi He

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  1. Shengwei Zong
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  5. Hongshi He
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Correspondence to Jiawei Xu.

Additional information

Foundation item: Under the auspices of Special Fund of National Seismological Bureau, China (No. 201208005), Doctorial Innovation Fund of Northeast Normal University (No. 10SSXT133, 2412013XS001), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41171038, 41171072, 41101523), Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (No. 20120043110014)

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Zong, S., Xu, J., Dege, E. et al. Effective seed distribution pattern of an upward shift species in alpine tundra of Changbai Mountains. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 26, 48–58 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-015-0775-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-015-0775-9

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