Population Structure and Spatial Distribution Pattern of Populus euphratica Riparian Forest Under Environmental Heterogeneity Along the Tarim River, Northwest China

• DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.844819
• Publication Date: 2022-06-16T10:16:12Z
• Authors: Asadilla Yusup; Ümüt Halik; Abdulla Abliz; Tayierjiang Aishan; Maierdang Keyimu; Jianxin Wei
• Keywords: Populus euphratica; Riparian forest; Tarim river; Spatial heterogeneity

Populus euphratica Oliv. (Euphrates poplar), as the dominant tree species of desert riparian forests along Central Asian inland rivers, plays a critical role in protecting arid land ecosystems. In recent decades, climate change and excessive water resources utilization activities have led to environmental degradation Tarim River northwest China. Understanding forest stand structure spatial distribution pattern provide important guidance for monitoring dynamics support sustainable management. However, few studies examined how attributes differ response heterogeneity. this study, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was applied acquire total 1648 individual P. tree’s 3D within 18 plots upper, middle, lower reaches River, which included height (TH), diameter at breast (DBH), crown (CD), projection area (CPA), density index (SDI), age ratios, pattern. The results showed that average segmentation determination accuracies TLS were 93.2 94.6%. From upper reaches, TH CD decreased by 3.8 0.3 m, while DBH increased 4.2 cm. SDI CPA exhibited following order: (454 n ha –1 , 82.3%) > middle (382 67.3%) (263 39.1%), differences significant 0.05 level. population changed from growing stable temporarily reaches. pair correlation g( r ) function determined random [g( = 1.2], an aggregated 3.1], 9.7]. decline groundwater depth soil moisture ( R 0.67 0.56, P < 0.05) mainstream River. enrich our understanding current development stage is optimizing management strategies realizing sustainability floodplain