Game Vertebrate Densities in Hunted and Nonhunted Forest Sites in Manu National Park, Peru

Manu National Park of southern Peru is one of the most renowned protected areas in the world, yet large-bodied vertebrate surveys conducted to date have been restricted to Cocha Cashu Biological Station, a research station covering <0.06 percent of the 1.7Mha park. Manu Park is occupied by >460 settled Matsigenka Amerindians, 300-400 isolated Matsigenka, and several, little-known groups of isolated hunter-gatherers, yet the impact of these native Amazonians on game vertebrate populations within the park remains poorly understood. On the basis of 1495 km of standardized line-transect censuses, we present density and biomass estimates for 23 mammal, bird, and reptile species for seven lowland and upland forest sites in Manu Park, including Cocha Cashu. We compare these estimates between hunted and nonhunted sites within Manu Park, and with other Neotropical forest sites. Manu Park safeguards some of the most species-rich and highest biomass assemblages of arboreal and terrestrial mammals ever recorded in Neotropical forests, most likely because of its direct Andean influence and high levels of soil fertility. Relative to Barro Colorado Island, seed predators and arboreal folivores in Manu are rare, and generalist frugivores specializing on mature fruit pulp are abundant. The impact of such a qualitative shift in the vertebrate community on the dynamics of plant regeneration, and therefore, on our understanding of tropical plant ecology, must be profound. Despite a number of external threats, Manu Park continues to serve as a baseline against which other Neotropical forests can be gauged.

长白山次生杨桦林样地:物种组成与群落结构

长白山次生杨桦林是该地区阔叶红松林经皆伐和火烧等破坏后恢复形成的主要次生林类型之一,是阔叶红松林次生演替系列中的重要阶段。参照巴拿马巴洛科罗拉多岛(Barro Colorado Island,BCI)50hm2热带雨林样地的技术规范,于2005年在长白山北坡的自然保护区内建立了一块5hm2的次生杨桦林长期监测样地,对样地内所有胸径≥1cm的木本植物进行了详细的定位调查。对样地的物种组成与群落结构的分析表明:次生杨桦林样地物种组成丰富,共包括16科28属44种;区系特征明显,北温带成分占主要部分;样地内被监测的树木个体数为20101,不包括分枝的独立个体数为16565;优势树种明显,从个体数、平均胸径、胸高断面积和重要值等分析来看,演替先锋树种白桦(Betula platyphylla)和山杨(Populus davidiana)在群落中占有绝对优势地位,但从径级结构来看,它们的更新却非常差,随着演替的进展,这些先锋树种将逐渐走向衰亡;阔叶红松林中的主要树种如红松(Pinusko-raiensis)和紫椴(Tilia amurensis)等已经在次生杨桦林中占有了一定的比例,林下更新良好,逐渐进入林冠层并最终取代杨桦等成为该森林的优势种;从物种的空间分布格局来看,演替先锋树种和阔叶红松林中的主要树种并没有表现出明显的聚集性分布格局,而其它的小乔木和灌木树种则表现出明显的聚集性分布格局,但与地形并没有表现出明显的相关性,相关结论还需要进一步分析。

长白山阔叶红松林样地(CBS):群落组成与结构

阔叶红松(Pinus koraiensis)林是中国东北地区的地带性植被,长白山区是阔叶红松林的核心分布区。参照巴拿马Barro Colorado Island (BCI) 50hm2热带雨林样地的技术规范,于2004年在长白山自然保护区的阔叶红松林内建立了一块25hm2的固定样地(简称CBS),这是目前中国科学院生物多样性委员会中国森林多样性动态研究网络中最北端的一块,也是全球温带地区最大的一块森林样地。2004年夏的第一次调查结果表明,样地内胸径≥1cm的木本植物有52种,隶属于18科32属。总的独立个体数为38902,包括分枝的总个体数为59121。植物组成上属典型的长白山植物区系,同时混有一些亚热带和亚寒带成分。群落优势种明显,个体数最多的前3个种的个体数占到总个体数的60%,前14个种占到95%,而其余38个种只占到5%。从物种多度、胸高断面积、平均胸径和重要值来看,群落成层现象显著,具有比较明显的优势种。主要树种的径级结构近似于正态分布或双峰分布,而次林层和林下层树种则表现出倒"J"形或"L"形。红松、紫椴(Tilia amurensis)、蒙古栎(Quercus mongolica)、水曲柳(Fraxinus mandshurica)、色木槭(Acermono)和春榆(Ulmus japonica)几个主要树种的空间分布随物种、径级的变化表现出不同的分布格局,其它一些树种的分布格局也表现出一定的空间异质性。