Secondary Succession of Shrub-herb Communities in the Hilly Area of Taihang Mountain

Overview

Journal Front Plant Sci

Date 2023 Sep 25

PMID 37746017

Authors

Xiuping Liu

Wangming Zhou

Xiaoxin Li

Yuming Zhang

WenXu Dong

Affiliations

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Abstract

Introduction: To document the successional processes of shrub-herb communities after large-scale human disturbance, and understand how changing environmental conditions affect species replacement in semi-humid hilly areas.

Methods: Utilizing the established permanent plots in the hilly area of Taihang Mountain, we evaluated temporal patterns of vegetation and soil following grass-to-shrub succession.

Results And Discussion: Along secondary succession, var. gradually dominated in dry sunny slope and shared the dominance with in shaded slope. Herbaceous dominant species in shrub-herb communities switched from , , , and in 1986 census to . and . in 2008 census, but herb was no longer dominant in 2020 census. As succession progresses, species dominance increased while richness decreased generally, and herb cover and aboveground biomass decreased, whereas shrub height, cover, and aboveground biomass increased significantly. Soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total potassium (TK) in topsoil increased significantly while pH declined by 1.04 units over the past three decades. Plant communities transitioned from perennial herbs to shrub-herb and then shrub communities, and . var. dominated in the succession of shrub-herb communities. Climate and soil properties, combined with plant attributes, together drive post-disturbance secondary succession. From a management perspective, the tight coupling between vegetation and soil under local climatic conditions should be considered to improve the fragile ecosystem in the hilly area of Taihang Mountain.

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