Reference list for tree names in the Comparative Study Plots (CSP) of the Biodiversity - Ecosystem Functioning Experiment (BEF-China) and the Main Experiment. This file includes the names of all tree and shrub species found in the CSP during the field work 2008 / 2009, including the species used for planting the Main Experiment in Xingangshan. The listed species names refer to the "Flora of China". For some listed species are existing synonyms that can be found within the metasheet z1_CSP_Main_TreeAndShrubSpecies_synonyms list.xls

The CSPs were selected according to gradients in successive age and woody species diversity.

Gutianshan NNR has an area of approximately 81 km2 and was initially established as a National Forest Reserve in 1975 and became a National Nature Reserve in 2001. The NNR comprises a large portion of broad-leaved forests of advanced successional stages (Hu & Yu 2008), which have not been managed since the beginning of the 1990ies, as well as young successional stages and conifer plantations, mainly of Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana

last updated November 3rd 2011

The vegetation is composed of different types of subtropical evergreen and mixed broad-leaved forests (Yu et al. 2001). Most of the stands are secondary forests, evidenced by maximum tree ages of 180 years, by agricultural terraces in almost all plots and by the presence of charcoal in almost all soil profiles. Around the Gutianshan NRR extensive deforestation has occurred during the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s, as in most parts of Southeast China. However, due to prevailing steep slopes, the Gutianshan area was only marginally usable for agricultural activities, and thus an exceptionally intact forest cover has been preserved.

This is the reference list for tree names in the CSPs and the Main Experiment