Ge Jianping

Spatiotemporal pattern and major causes of the Amur tiger population dynamics.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, we analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) population dynamics during the past century, and proposed a set of strategies and measures for conserving this endangered species from the perspectives of landscape ecology and sustainability science. The Amur tiger is a keystone species in the region of Russia Far East, Eastern Mongolia, Northeastern China, and North Korea, and its population declined dramatically during the past century, from the historical record of 3,000 to the current low level of about 500 because of different kinds of anthropogenic disturbances. The extant tiger population is distributed mainly in the Russia Far East region, including one large habitat area along the Sikhote Mountain and two smaller habitat patches near the Russia-China border. A small number of tiger individuals are also found in several small isolated habitat patches in northeastern China. The primary causes for the decline of the tiger population were poaching, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation. The scarcity of prey and wars were also responsible for the decrease in the tiger population. To better conserve this endangered species, we propose the following strategies and measures: to establish a long-term monitoring platform; to strictly prohibit tiger poaching and restrict forest logging, hunting, and building roads and other artificial structures within the tiger distribution areas; and to build animal movement corridors among reserves and across the China-Russia border. To achieve these goals, large-scale land use planning and habitat pattern optimization are needed, and conservation goals must be integrated with 212 生 物 多 样 性 Biodiversity Science 第 17 卷 the overall goal of sustainable development in the region that simultaneously considers environmental, economic, and social factors based on the principles of landscape ecology and sustainability science.

Distribution and abundance of Amur tiger, Amur leopard and their un- gulate prey in Hunchun National Nature Reserve, Jilin

The Hunchun National Nature Reserve (HNNR) serves as core habitat for both Amur tiger (Pan- thera tigris altaica) and Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) in Northeast China. To investigate the relative abundance of wildlife and human disturbance within the reserve, we analyzed images from a moni- toring network of 83 camera traps deployed between April and June of 2013 in HNNR. Among the 6,060 to- tal trap nights, 18 species of mammals were detected from the images, including four Mustelids, three Felids, two species each from Canidae, Cervidae and Sciuridae, and one species each from Suidae, Ursidae, Mos- chidae, Erinaceidae and Leporidae, respectively. Cameras photographed 11 tigers and 13 leopards. Relative abundance index (RAI) of tigers (0.84) was higher than that of leopards (0.48). RAIs of ungulates, from high to low, were sika deer (Cervus nippon) (2.18), Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) (1.53) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) (0.92). RAI of human activities (40.64) and livestock grazing (2.76) were both significantly higher than animal species. The data also indicated that tigers and sika deer were mainly restricted to the core zone of HNNR and that their abundance was lower in the community-based natural resource management

Effect of landform on seasonal temperature structures across China in the past 52 years

The data of 160 national meteorological observatory stations including the long-term monthly temperature data in China were analyzed to study the seasonal variation of the spatial temperature structures across China in the past half century. It is found that temperature structures differ between seasons: a latitude temperature pattern in winter and a landform temperature pattern in summer, which indicate that the effect of landform on temperature structure is much stronger in summer than that in winter and the effect of latitudinal temperature is much stronger in winter than that in summer. The mechanisms of the seasonal difference in temperature structures are also discussed in this paper.

Effects of fire disturbance on the forest structure and succession in the natural broad-leaved/Korean pine forest

Investigations on charcoal in the soil, fire-scarred trees, stand composition, forest structure as well as regeneration status were carried out in the natural broad-leaved/Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forest after fire disturbance at Liangshui Nature Reserve on the mid-north of Xiaoxing’an Mountains from 1990 to 1992, and the ecological effects of fire disturbance on the formation and succession of this kind of forest were analyzed according to the survey results. The average depth of charcoal in the soil was related to the timing of the fire. According to the characteristic of fire-scarred trees, the dynamic map of the fire behavior was drawn onto the topographic map. It showed that the dimension and extent of the fire disturbance was closely related with site conditions. Fire disturbance only led to a significant difference in stand composition and diameter, class structure for the stands at different locations, rather than completely destroying the forest. After fire disturbance, the horizontal, community structure was a mosaic of different patches, which were made up of different deciduous species or different sizes of Korean pines, and the succession trend of each patch was also different. In the sites with the heavy fire disturbance, the intolerant hardwood species were dominant, and there were a large number of regenerative Korean pine saplings under the canopy. In the moderate-disturbed sites, the tolerant hardwood species were dominant, and a small number of large size Korean pines still survived. In the light-disturbed sites, large size, Korean pines were dominant.

A study on the relationship between vegetation pattern and environment in the upstream of Minjiang River, China

The vegetation pattern in the upstream of Minjiang River, and its relationship with environment factors, such as landscape position (elevation, slope, aspect), precipitation and temperature and soil are analyzed in this paper. The data used in this paper were based on the landscape map derived from 1994 TM imagery. The results were as follows: 1) dominant landscape types were forest, shrub land and grassland, which were very similar in terms of area ratio (32.87%, 31.85% and 28.44%, respectively); 2) the patch shape of conifer forest and mixed forest was complicated while that of broad-leaved forest and cultivated land was simple; 3) the fragmentation of conifer forest and mixed forest was serious in contrast with low fragmentation of broad-leaved forest and cultivated land; and 4) closed scrub and grassland had a high contagion and good connectivity while mixed forest had a lower contagion and bad connectivity. In addition, the vegetation distribution pattern of upstream of Minjiang River was closely related with elevation and temperature, but the relationship between vegetation and precipitation was not statistically significant.

Biomass dynamics of Quercus aliena var. acutesrata Community on Mountain Xiaolong in Gansu Province, China

The dynamics of tree layer biomass was studied by combining 35 sample plots of field census with biomass model estimation in a natural Quercus aliena var. acutesrata community on Mountain Xiaolong in Gansu Province, China. The tree layer biomass of Quercus aliena var. acutesrata community was 183 660 kg/ha, in which the slow growth group accounted for 64.89% of the total biomass. The fast-medium growth group accounted for 33.40% and the coniferous group accounted for 1.38%. The organs biomass was found to be in the following order: trunk > root > branch > leaf. The total biomass accumulated with the development of the community. The total biomass and the biomass of the organs were highest in the mature community and became stable as the community developed. The relative growth rate of organs was in the following order: trunk > branch > root > leaf. The biomass ratio of the slow growth group trees tended to increase and the fast-medium group trees tended to decrease as the community developed, which was reveresed in the decline development stage. The biomass of the coniferous group was very small throughout the development process.