Open Access
ARTICLE
Potential spatial expansion of Ulmus macrocarpa population in Keerqin sandy lands, China
Jianar A, JH Yuan, YF Yang
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China 130024.
This work was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFC0500602), Natural Science Foundation of China (31472134, www.nsfc.gov.
cn, YFY), and the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (B16011).
Address correspondence to: Prof. Yunfei Yang, Fax 086-431-85695065; Phone 086-431-85098994; e-mail: ; ;
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2018, 87(all), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2018.87.032
Abstract
Ulmus macrocarpa Hance can form monodominant
woodlands in the semiarid Keerqin sandy lands, China. Methods of
sampling at meter intervals from the bases of trees at the woodland
edges and isolated trees, respectively, were employed along vertical
sections in different directions. Using statistical methods based on
the density function of the Weibull distribution, the patterns of seed
dispersal and the spatial expansion response of
U. macrocarpa, which
is a typical anemochorous plant, were analyzed. Although as an effect
of the wind direction varying owing to the monsoon, there were differences
in the degree of dispersal of seeds in terms of distance, and
cumulative seed number for the woodland edges and isolated trees,
the seed dispersal patterns were all the same. That is, the seed dispersal
patterns can be described by density functions of the Weibull
distribution (P<0.01) for the frequencies of the number of seeds per
unit area away from the tree bases. The shape parameter (α) of the
Weibull distribution associated with the mechanism of seed dispersal
always had values of α>1 in different directions. Therefore, it is
proposed that
U. macrocarpa always displays a “long-distance” seed
dispersal pattern, whether from isolated trees or those at woodland
edges, or whether with or against the wind direction under natural
conditions in the Keerqin sandy lands. This could be understood as
the potential spatial expansion of
U. macrocarpa populations in different
directions always following the same pattern.
Keywords
Cite This Article
A, J., Yuan, J., Yang, Y. (2018). Potential spatial expansion of
Ulmus macrocarpa population in Keerqin sandy lands, China.
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, 87(all), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2018.87.032