An environmental gradient change of Picea mongolica seedling from the center of a forest canopy gap in forest-steppe ecotone in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China

In sandy forest with a forest canopy gap for a period of over 30 years, the spruce(Picea mongolica) seedlings were monitored on two 5-m-wide transects from the center of a large gap into the surrounding forest. The farther they were to the far center, the taller grew the seedling and the more is the number of seedling. There were many seedlings under the canopy but almost all seedlings died before they grow up. Along the forest edge, growth of seedlings was temporarily enhanced by lateral penetration of light from the gap. The implications for natural forest regeneration dynamics are discussed. Our results prove that in P. mongolica forest a gap disturbance creates a non-uniform environment for regeneration of the species, and determines that the forest was a non-even aged forest.