Diverse Patterns of Understory Plant Species across Different Types of Plantations in a Mountainous Ecosystem

Jie Luo, Muhammad Fahad Sardar, Zeyuan Qian, Gadah Albasher and Xiang Li ()
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Jie Luo: College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Muhammad Fahad Sardar: Qingdao Key Laboratory of Ecological Protection and Restoration, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
Zeyuan Qian: College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Gadah Albasher: Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 712100, Saudi Arabia
Xiang Li: College of Landscape Architecture and Art, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Artificial afforestation is considered as one of the key ecological restoration measures. The early large-scale, single-species afforestation method is considered detrimental to the environment. However, there is still a lack of empirical research on the differences in understory biodiversity between monoculture and mixed forests, as well as the response mechanisms of understory plants to environmental factors. We compared the differences in understory plant diversity in different types of plantations and analyzed the differences in understory species composition and the impact of understory plants on local scales (soil organic matter, soil-available phosphorus, and distance from the road) and landscape scales (patch density, landscape fragmentation, and patch diversity) and environmental variable response mechanisms in a mountainous area. Our findings revealed that there was no significant difference in overall understory plant diversity between monoculture and mixed forests, but the perennial species and native species in the mixed forest were significantly higher than those in the monoculture. In monoculture plots, the disparity in species composition was more pronounced compared to that observed in mixed plots. Soil organic matter had a positive effect on understory plant diversity, and soil available phosphorus and distance from the road significantly affected plant diversity in monoculture forests but had no effect in mixed forests. Landscape-scale environmental factors have no effect on understory species diversity. The findings of the current study emphasize the disparities in the plant species composition between mixed and monoculture forest plantations, as well as their respective reactions to environmental factors.

Keywords: landscape diversity; monoculture forest; mixed forest; perennials; soil organic matter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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