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We investigated species composition and community structure of a typical Quercus variabilis natural secondary forest in the northern foothills of the Qinling Mountains, within the dynamic monitoring plot of deciduous broad-leaved forest at the Louguantai experimental forest farm in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province. The results showed that there were 3162 individual woody plants with diameter at breast height ≥1 cm in the plot, which were belonged to 42 species, 36 genera, and 25 families. The community genus's areal type was dominated by the temperate component, which accounted for 44.4%, and followed by the tropical component. The community was dominated by several tree species. The top three species with respect to importance value were Q. variabilis , Pinus tabuliformis , and Quercus aliena , with the sum of their importance value being 64.7%. The average DBH of all woody plants was 7.58 cm. The distribution of all individuals and dominant species in the tree layer was approximately normal, with more medium-size individuals. The community structure was stable. The community was poorly renewed, with a trend of population decline. Biodiversity indices varied considerably among different plots, being lower than those of subtropical broad-leaved evergreen forests. There was a significant correlation between community species distribution and environmental factors. Soil and topography explained 42.4% of the variation in community distribution. Altitude and soil alkali hydrolysable nitrogen had a significant effect on community distribution. Altitude, soil total phosphorus, and organic matter content significantly affected the species diversity of Q. variabilis communities. The stronger adaptability of Q. variabilis populations allowed them to become dominant in low-nutrient environments, which limited species diversity in the community.

Forest is the main component of terrestrial ecosystems that harbors about 40% of the existing species on the earth. As a vital component of biodiversity, phyllosphere microbes in the canopy play a critical and unique role in maintaining plant health, improving host resistance, and influencing global biogeochemical cycle. However, the studies on the community structure of phyllosphere fungi in natural forests are scarce as compared to that on rhizosphere microbes. Consequently, we know litter about how phyllosphere fungi associates with leaf traits. In this study, we analyzed fungal community composition of canopy leaves of six dominant tree species ( i.e ., Pinus koraiensis , Tilia amurensis , Quercus mongolica , Acer mono , Fraxinus mandshurica , and Ulmus japonica ), in a broad-leaved Korean pine forest of Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve in Jilin Province, using high-throughput sequencing. We compared the differences of phyllosphere fungal community structure and functional groups of different dominant tree species. Moreover, 14 key leaf functional traits of their host trees were measured to investigate the relationships between fungal community composition and leaf functional traits. We found that the dominant phyla and class of phyllosphere fungi were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, and Dothideomycetes and Taphrinomycetes, respectively. Results of LEfSe analysis indicated that all the tree species except Ulmus japonica had significant biomarkers, such as the Eurotiomycetes of Pinus koraiensis and the Ascomycetes of Quercus mongolica . The main functional groups of phyllosphere fungi were pathotroph. The results of redundancy and envfit analysis showed that functional traits related to plant nutrient acquisition as well as resistance to diseases and pests were the main factors influencing the community structure of phyllosphere fungi.

Seeds are the basis for forest regeneration. To examine the composition and spatio-temporal dynamics of seed rains, a total of 150 seed traps of 0.5 m 2 were installed in a 25 hm 2 broad-leaved Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) mixed forest plot in Changbai Mountains. With a total of 252 collections from May 2006 to September 2017, we collected 764299 mature and immature seeds which were belonged to 27 species, 17 genera, and 12 families. More than 90% of all collected seeds (704231 seeds) were from 13 canopy species. Seeds of four tree species, including Tilia amurensis, Fraxinus mandschurica, Acer mono, and Acer pseudo-sieboldianum could be collected every year from each trap. Mast-seeding was found in every canopy layer, but it happened one to two years earlier in the overstorey layer than midstorey and understorey layer. Almost all species produced seeds in autumn, with considerable spatiotemporal variation. Generally, the spatial variation of seeds was larger than temporal variation. Compared with annual variation coefficient of seeds in tropical forest of the Barro Colorado Island (BCI) and subtropical evergreen forest in the Gutianshan, annual variation coefficient of seeds in Changbai Mountains was higher, which supported the hypothesis that annual variation in seed rains would be lower in the tropics than that in higher latitudes.

We examined the effects of nitrogen, soil microbe and their interactions on biomass allocation, growth and photosynthesis of Fraxinus mandschurica, a typical tree species in Changbai Mountain, through outdoor control experiments. In June 2017, an experiment with two-factor randomized block design was carried out. There were four treatments: control (F), nitrogen addition (FN), sterilization (FS), sterilization and nitrogen addition (FSN), six repetitive blocks, three repetitions per block, including 18 repetitions of each treatment. In mid-August 2018, we measured photosynthetic parameters and then harvested seedlings to measure biomass and growth parameters in September. The results showed that compared with F, FN significantly increased total biomass by 14%, basal diameter by 9%, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate (P n ), stomatal conduc-tance (g s ), transpiration rate (T r ) by 75%, 318%, 231%, 227% respectively. FS significantly increased total biomass by 13%, basal diameter by 9% and chlorophyll content, P n , g s and T r increased by 34%, 213%, 120% and 115%, respectively. FSN increased total biomass by 23%, basal diameter by 14%, chlorophyll content, P n , g s and T r increased by 81%, 672%, 312% and 273%, respectively. Nitrogen, soil microbe and their interactions had significant effects on biomass, growth and photosynthesis of F. mandschurica seedlings. Soil microbe would regulate the response of F. mandschurica seedlings to nitrogen.

To understand the factors influencing tree radial growth, we analyzed the seasonal dynamics of tree growth of 3 common species (Pinus koraiensis, Tilia amurensis, Quercus mongolica), compared interspecific growth rates and explored the effects of size, neighborhood competition, soil and topography based on five years dendrometer bands monitoring data of the 3 common species in a broad-leaved Korean pine (P. koraiensis) mixed forest plot in Changbai Mountain, Northeast China. The results showed that the growth dynamics of 3 species were consistent. Trees began to grow in late May, thrived in July, grew at declining rates from late August and stopped growing in late October. Annual relative growth rates were significantly different among the species. Q. mongolica tended to grow faster than the other two species, and the differences of growth rates among the 3 species were especially large for small and medium trees. Tree growth rates of P. koraiensis and Q. mongolica were strongly decreased by neighborhood competition, while tree growth rate of T. amurensis was significantly related to tree size, soil and topography.

Spruce-fir forest is the best protected forest vegetation, while larch forest is intrazonal vegetation on the northern slope of Changbai Mountains. To further understand their species composition and community structure, we established a 4 hm2 forest permanent plot in each of these two forests in 2010. All free-standing plant species with DBH (diameter at breast height) ≥ 1 cm were mapped, tagged, and identified to species. The results showed that there were 9257 stems belonging to 8640 genotype individuals, 22 species, 6 genera and 12 families in the spruce-fir forest plot, while 4060 stems belonging to 3696 genotype individuals, 22 species, 8 genera and 16 families in the larch forest plot. Species composition in the two plots was very similar. Most of the species belonged to the Changbai Mountains plant flora. The analysis of species' importance values showed that there were dominant species in both communities. The spruce-fir forest was dominated by Abies nephrolepis and Larix olgensis, whose importance values accounted for 38.7% and 23.9% of the sum of importance values over all species in the plot, respectively. The larch forest was dominated solely by L. olgensis, whose importance value accounted for 61.9% of the sum of importance values over all species in the plot. Both forests were in good condition of regeneration and showed a reversed 'J' type in tree size distributions, at community level. However, different species showed different shapes in size distribution in the two forests. A. nephrolepis showed a reversed 'J' type size distribution in the spruce-fir forest, while L. olgensis with DBH ≥ 10 cm showed a hump-shaped distribution in the larch forest. Spatial distribution patterns of the main species changed differently with size class and spatial scales. Common species had different spatial distribution patterns in the two plots.

The broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest represents the typical vegetation type of the eastern mountain area in Northeast China. However, due to the interference of human activities, the natural broad-leaved Korean pine forest only distributes in some residual fragments with unequal areas in Changbai Mountains and Small Hinggan Mountains. To compare and analyze the similarities and differences of broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forests in the different areas, we established six forest plots following the field protocol of the 50 hm2 forest plot in Panama (Barro Colorado Island, BCI) in 2012 in Changbai Mountain National Nature Reserve in Jilin Province and the eastern mountain area in Liaoning Province. All free-standing plant species with DBH (diameter at breast height) > or = 1 cm were mapped, tagged and identified to species. The results showed that there were 69 woody species in the six plots, comprising 42 genera and24 families. Aceraceae was the most species-rich family in all six plots. Most species belonged to the plant type of North Temperate Zone, with a minor subtropical plant species component. The statistics of species abundance, basal area, mean DBH, and importance value showed that there were obviously dominant species in each community. The DBH distribution of all individuals showed a reversed "J" type. However, the percentage of individuals in small size-class and large size-class varied in the six communities, which indicated that these communities were at different successional stages. Ranked by the importance value, the DBH distribution of the top three species in the six plots showed four distribution types: reversed "J" distribution, reversed "L" distribution, unimodal distribution, and partial peak distribution. Spatial distribution patterns of the main species in the six plots changed differently with species and size-class, and the distribution patterns of the same species varied in the different plots.

Taking the 5 hm2 sampling plot in the natural secondary poplar-birch forest in Changbai Mountains as test object, and based on the two census data in 2005 and 2010, an analysis was made on the main tree species composition and quantity, size class distribution of dead individuals, and regeneration characteristics of the main tree species in different habitat types of the plot in 2005-2010. In the five years, the species number of the individuals with DBH> or = 1 cm increased from 46 to 47, among which, 3 species were newly appeared, and 2 species were disappeared. The number of the individuals changed from 16509 to 15027, among which, 2150 individuals died, accounting for 13% of the whole individuals in 2005, and 668 individuals were newly increased. The basal area of the trees increased from 28.79 m2.m-2 to 30.55 m2.m-2, with that of 41 species increased while that of 6 species decreased. The decrease of the basal area of Betula platyphylla and Populus davidiana accounted for 72.3% of the total decrease. Small individuals had higher mortality, as compared with large ones, and the mortality of the individuals with DBH<5 cm occupied 65% of the total. B. platyphylla and P. davidiana contributed most in the dead individuals with large DBH. No difference was observed in the tree mortality among different habitat types, but the mortality of the individuals with different size classes showed greater variation.

In order to understand the composition and spatiotemporal dynamics of the litter falls at community level in a broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountains, litter falls were collected from 150 containers in a 25 hm2 permanent plot in 2008. The leaf litters in the containers were from 35 tree species, accounting for 67.3% of the total number (52) of the tree species with DBH > or =1 cm in the plot. The litter falls had a weight 29.39 kg, equivalent to 3918.4 kg x hm(-2) among which, broad leaves, miscellany, needle leaves, and branches occupied 61.7%, 18.0%, 11.7%, and 8.6%, respectively. About 83.8% of the broad leaves were from Tilia amurensis, Fraxinus mandshurica, Quercus mongolica, Acer mono, and Ulmus japonica. The litter falls showed an evident seasonal dynamics, with the peaks occurred from 13 September to 10 October, e.g., the litter falls from T. amurensis and Pinus koraiensis peaked in 13-26 September, while those from Q. mongolica, U. japonica, and A. pseudo-sieboldianum peaked in 27 September to 10 October. There was a great difference in the mass of the litter falls among the containers, e.g., with 150-200 g litters in 68 containers and >500 g litters in 1 container. The species number of the litter falls in a container was 18 in maximum, and was 12 in common (32 containers). Litter falls mass was positively proportional to the sum of the basal area at breast height of parent trees in the plot, and the amount of the litter falls in the containers was related with the locations of the containers, exhibiting an evident spatial heterogeneity in the plot.

Based on the shrub census of 600 quadrats (5 mx5 m) in a 25 hm2 plot of broad-leaved Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountains, this paper analyzed the species composition, structure, and spatial distribution of shrubs in the forest. A total of 18 shrub species, including 6435 shrub individuals and 11369 stems, were found in the census, with Philadelphus schrenkii, Corylus mandshurica, and Acer barbinerve being the dominant species. P. schrenkii had the highest amounts of individuals and stems, occupying 40.6% and 33.4% of the total, respectively. There existed great differences in the clumpy ratio, stem number per clump, crown size, and basal diameter among the shrub species, and the height of different shrub species also varied significantly, with obvious vertical stratification observed in the community. The dominant species P. schrenkii had a wide distribution, while Sorbaria sorbifolia, Spiraea chamaedryfolia, S. salicifolia, and Euonymus pauciflorus had obvious heterogeneous distributions.