Effects of Moso Bamboo Expansion on the Spatial Pattern of Coarse Woody Debris in Secondary Coniferous and Broad-Leaved Mixed Forest in Wuxie National Forest Park, China

Abstract

The spatial pattern of coarse woody debris (CWD) within the surrounding forest changes continuously during the expansion of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), which partly reflects the death process of trees within the community. In this paper, we sampled an area of 0.72 hm2 within the transition zone of Moso bamboo expansion, which included continuous secondary coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (SF), transitional forest (TF), and Moso bamboo forest (MF) in Wuxie National Forest Park, Zhejiang Province. The spatial pattern and spatial correlation of CWD with different diameter classes, different decay classes, and different types in the three forests were analyzed using Ripley’s L function. The results showed that, with the expansion of Moso bamboo, the volume of CWD in TF was higher than those in SF and MF, and the total density of CWD in the three forests varied, with a decreasing order of MF > TF > SF. The spatial pattern of CWD in the three forests was aggregated on a relatively small scale, but the pattern changed from aggregated to random distribution with the increase in scale. Moreover, the CWD of Moso bamboo in TF showed aggregated distribution, and the aggregation intensity increased with the increase in scale. With the expansion of Moso bamboo, the spatial pattern and spatial correlation of CWD with different diameter classes, decay classes, and types have changed significantly in the three forests. Our study suggests that the expansion of Moso bamboo is increasingly strengthening the intraspecific and interspecific competition and accelerating the death of neighboring trees.