Logs and Snags in a Shola Forest of Kerala, India

Introduction Dead wood is an important structural and functional component of a forest ecosystem(Fridman and Welheim 2000). Recent studies also indicate that dead wood is important for maintaining both plant and animal diversity in different forest ecosystems (Grove 2001) as it serve as an energy source (Bray and Gorham 1964) and habitat for an array of organisms. Dead wood can also help reduce erosion, increase soil organic matters (McFee and Stone 1966), and suitable conditions for seedli…     

天姥抒怀——新昌天姥山自然风光和历史文化感受

“汉时刘展、阮肇采药在天姥山遇仙的传说。山水诗鼻祖南朝诗人谢灵运在天姥山伐木开径留下的“谢公道”,唐代诗人李白《梦游天姥吟留别》描写天姥山的记梦诗……。天姥山的浓厚文化积沉和绚丽山水风光,勾起了千百万人对天姥山的情怀。     

天姥抒怀——新昌天姥山自然风光和历史文化感受

“汉时刘展、阮肇采药在天姥山遇仙的传说。山水诗鼻祖南朝诗人谢灵运在天姥山伐木开径留下的“谢公道”,唐代诗人李白《梦游天姥吟留别》描写天姥山的记梦诗……。天姥山的浓厚文化积沉和绚丽山水风光,勾起了千百万人对天姥山的情怀。     

Analysis of soil biogeochemical characteristics in the process of karst rocky desertification

The sampling method of karst soil is always the one used for non-karst area. However, if the samples can represent the plot, it still needs further investigation due to high degree of spatial variability of karst soil. The study results of soil from the Maolan karst virgin forest in Guizhou Province elucidated that only the surface area-weighted samples could represent plot soils in the karst ecosystem. The remediation of karst rocky desertification has currently become a national issue, but soil degradation research on rocky desertification genesis types and processes is still insufficient. Soil physical, chemical, biological characteristics and enzymes activities from plots of different rocky desertification genesis types and grades in the Cha＇eryan catchment in the Huajiang Gorge area, Guizhou, were studied. The results showed that woodcutting and land reclamation influenced soil biogeochemical characteristics, and the influence of different disturbing ways was huge. The author suggested a soil degradation index system which could illustrate the rocky desertification genesis type and extent. The degraded modes of woodcutting and reclamation sequence were different, both had no synchronism with rocky desertification grades divided by current landscape index. Only soil of serious grade degraded evidently in wood cutting sequence. On the contrary, soils of slight, medium and serious grades degraded evidently in the reclamation sequence.