Functional recovery of a subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest following clear cutting in central China

Ecosystem functioning is largely dependent on the functional traits of its component species. Most of the previous researches on ecosystem recovery have mainly focused on taxonomic composition but less attention is concentrated on functional community composition. Here, we examine the dynamic trend of functional community composition along a recovery chronosequence following clear cutting in subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest. Results showed that with the process of recovery, the functional composition changed from a community with high specific leaf area (CWM_SLA), leaf nitrogen concentration (CWM_LNC) and leaf phosphorus (CWM_LPC) but low leaf thickness (CWM_LT) and stem tissue density (CWM_STD) to that with low CWM_SLA, CWM_LNC and CWM_LPC but high CWM_LT and CWM_STD. Functional traits of evergreen and deciduous species were significantly different in each stage. Light availability and soil phosphorus were the most important influencing factors during the recovery. Our study suggests that the subtropical evergreen-deciduous broadleaved mixed forest is gradually shifting from a resource acquisitive to a resource conservative assemblage, in which evergreen species will become more and more dominant. Any management or conservation planning upon the forest ecosystem should integrate this dynamic trend of functional change.