FengshuiForestEcologyinSoutheasternChina:PreliminaryResultsfromTree-RingandStreamSamplingJesseMinor1,AlexDanza2,JadeMermini2,ChristopherCoggins2(PrincipalInvesIgator),ZhengHuaizhou3,FangKeyan,3Li-huaYing,ArisEQing,LisaBurke,NoraCooper,DesInyRiviello,PatriciaSendao,ObadiahWright,SamZeitlin
1SchoolofGeographyandDevelopment,UniversityofArizona2GeographyandAsianStudies,BardCollegeatSimon’sRock3CollegeofGeographicalSciences,FujianNormalUniversity
IntroducIonThismul)disciplinaryprojectincorporatesmixed-methodsresearchdesignedtounderstandacomplicatedsocio-ecologicalsystem• Village-levelethnography• Streamqualityandaqua)cecology• Foreststandassessments
ResearchObjecIves• Whatarethera)onalesofferedby
villagers,foresters,andconserva)onistsforthecrea)on,maintenance,andaltera)onoffengshuiforests?
• Whataresomeofthemeasureableecologicaloutcomespromotedbyfengshuiforests?
• Whataretheeffectsonwaterqualityandstreamsystemsfromtheseforests?
• Whatisthetotaldistribu)onoffengshuiforestsbycountyacross14provincesinsouthernChina?
OngoingResearchQuesIonsOverthenexttwosummers,amul)disciplinaryteamwillsamplesitesin14ProvincesinSEChinaiden)fiedviaasurveyofforestryofficials.Anexpandedstand-levelsurveywillincorporatetree-ringsamplingandanalysis,whichwillanswerques)onsabout• Climatesensi)vityoffengshuiforests• Growthresponsestostand-leveldisturbances
andhumanmanagement• Agestructureofstandsonabandonedrice
terraces• Age-heightrela)onships• Streamflowreconstruc)ons
LeQ:Samplingloca)onsinFujianandJiangxiProvinces.Nineforeststandsweresampledinsummer2014.Right:Shuitou(watersource)forest,Wailingvillage,JiangxiProvince.Thisforestalsoservesasashuiwei(waterexit)forestforLilingvillage,barelyvisibleabovetheforest.Fengshuiforeststypicallysharespacewithterracedagricultureandvillages,andaresituatedonpar)culargeomorphicortopographicfeatures.
StandFeaturesFengshuiforestsareimportantcentersofecologicallydiversity,butstand-leveldiversityvarieshighlyacrosssites.17speciesrepresen)ng12generawereiden)fiedinthesestands.Thefengshuiforestssampledinsummer2014rangeinsizefrom0.1hatoover7ha.
Oftheninefengshuiforestssampledinsummer2014,two(22%)containedasinglespeciesofoverstorytree.Three(33%)containedfiveormoredominantoverstoryspecies.Four(44%)containedthreespeciesofoverstorytrees.
Averagetreeheightis26.5m.Averagetreediameteris99.9cm,andrangesfrom40.2cmto178.9cm.
ForestSurveyMethods• Diameterandheightofoverstorytrees• Areaofforestpatch• Wildlifesigns/sounds/sigh)ngs• Evidenceofdisturbance• Rela)onshipofforesttoadjacentstreams• Dendrochronology
JesseMinorphoto
JesseMinorphoto
RelevantSourcesCoggins,Chris.2003.TheTigerandthePangolin:Nature,Culture,andConserva>oninChina.Honolulu,UniversityofHawaiiPress.[Chapter8isbelievedtobethefirstpieceinEnglishthatfocusesexclusivelyonfengshuiforests).
Coggins,Chris.2013.“WhentheLandisExcellent:VillageFengshuiForestsandtheNatureofLineage,Polity,andVitalityinSouthernChina”inJamesMiller,DanSmyerYuandPetervanderVeer(eds.),2013,ReligionandEcologicalSustainabilityinChina.NewYork:Routledge.
Coggins,Chris,JoelleChevrier,MaeveDwyer,LindseyLongway,MichaelXu,PeterTiso,andZhenLi.“VillageFengshuiForestsofSouthernChina–CultureHistoryandConserva)onStatus”ASIANetworkExchange.Volume19,No.2,2012.[Thispieceincludestabulardataontrees(species,frequency,diameters,etc.)].
JesseMinorphoto
JesseMinorphoto
ChristopherCogginsphoto
AcknowledgementsFundingwasprovidedtoBardCollegeatSimon’sRockandBardCollegebyagrantfromtheHenryLuceFounda)on’sLuceIni)a)veonAsianStudiesandtheEnvironment(LIASE)programandbytheUniversityofArizona’sGraduateCollege.
PreliminaryResults:WaterQualityWaterqualitysamplesindicatethatfengshuiforestsimprovelocalwaterqualitycomparedtoplanta)onforests.Atwatershedscales,evensmallforestfeaturescancleanstreamsanddiminishagriculturalpollutants.
PreliminaryResults:Tree-RingsCoresfromoverstoryCryptomeriafortuneisampledinastreambedloca)onat531meleva)oninawind-gap(shan-ao)forestnearGuizhupingvillage,Fujianaresuitablefortree-ringanalyses.Averagemeansensi)vityis0.291withgoodinterseriescorrela)on(0.407).
Waterqualitysamplesaretakenwitha2013YSIProPlushandheldmeterin1st-4thorderstreams.Samplesarecollectedaboveandbelowfengshuiforestsandplanta)onforests,andbelowvillagesandterracedagriculturalcropareas.DatacourtesyofArisEring,BardHighSchool-EarlyCollege,Queens.ImageatlercourtesyofChrisCoggins.
WaterQualitySamplingDesign
Above:Streamsflowingpastfengshuiforestsareassociatedwithdecreasednitratelevelscomparedtoplanta)onforests,whichshowanincreaseinnitrates.SpecificConductance,aproxyforoverallstreamnutrients,increasesinassocia)onwithbothforesttypes.Fengshuiforestsappeartohaveaposi)veeffectonlocalwaterquality.Below:Sampledstreamsdemonstratesimilarcharacteris)cs.(*=es)matedvalue)
JesseMinorphoto
Cryptomeriafortunei,FujianProvince
FangKeyenphoto
Tree-ringchronologiesfromoverstorybroadleafandconiferousfengshuiforesttreescanbeusedtoreconstructclima)ccondi)onsandtoexaminemanagementandstand-levelecologicaleffects.Annualizedclimatedataaretoocoarsetoawemptclimatereconstruc)onsandreturnweakcorrela)onswithtreegrowth.Correla)onsbetweentree-ringchronologiesandgrowing-seasonclimatedataareexpectedtoyieldmuchstrongerresults.Climateanalysiswillalsoiden)fyfactorslimi)ngannualringforma)oninfengshuiforestsinsoutheasternChina.
TreesinFujian’smountainsshowadis)nctdormantperiodcorrespondingtothewinterseason.Mosttreegrowthoccursat)mesofyearwiththehighesttemperaturesandhighestantecedentprecipita)on(March-June).ThegrowingseasonlikelyextendsthroughSeptember.
Sampledtreesshowaweakposi)vecorrela)onwithannualizedmeanmaximummonthlytemperature(22%),aweaknega)vecorrela)onwithmaximumgrowingseasontemperatures(-21%),andaweaknega)vecorrela)onwithmeanmonthlyprecipita)on(-21%)measuredinLongyan,Fujian.Thegrowingseasonises)matedtobeMarch-Augustforthisanalysis.Correspondencebetweentreegrowthandtemperatureislikelybecausewarmeryearspromptmorerapidtreegrowthwhensufficientwaterispresent.Toomuchwaterdecreasestreegrowthinthisloca)on,andhighgrowingseasontemperaturescanalsolimittreegrowth.Thenega)vecorrela)onbetweentreegrowthandmaximumgrowingseasontemperatureislikelybecausehighmonthlymaximumtemperaturesduringthegrowingseasonproducewaterstress.
Thesecorrela)onsaretooweakforclimatereconstruc)ons,butcanbeimprovedwithaccesstobewerclimate)meseries.
JesseMinorphoto
Source:WorldBankClimateChangeKnowledgePortal
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