Spatial structure and dynamics of predominant populations in a virgin old-growth oak forest in the Qinling Mountains, China

This paper attempts to explore the characteristics of the spatial structure and development dynamics of three predominant tree populations, Quercus aliena var. acutiserrata Maxim.(QA), Acer caesium subsp. giraldii (Pax) E. Murr.(AC), and Ulmus propinqua Koidz (U. japonica) Sag (UG), in a virgin old-growth oak broad-leaved mixed forest in the Qinling Mountains, China. We employed a bivariate distribution of the structural parameters (mingling, dominance, and uniform angle index) based on the relationship between nearest neighbor tree groups and found that all predominant populations with a high species mixture and random distribution pattern. However, QA and UG are recessional populations, and AC is a progressive population. Predominant populations showed a consistent tendency during stand development that the spatial structures became increasingly mixed; the distribution pattern gradually transformed from clumped to random, and the segregation among the tree species increased. This finding demonstrates that the populations are forming a steady-state forest structure. The QA population will continue to maintain its predominance in the forest in the future, and AC will survive and grow as an associated species over the long term. However, UG will decline, and the forest will ultimately become an oak-dominated climax forest community if there are no large-scale disturbances.