Long-term effects of dendroliinus superans bulter disturbance on forest landscape in Huzhong forest bureau of great Xing' an mountains: A simulation study

A spatially explicit landscape model LANDIS was applied to simulate the long-term effects of Dendrolimus superans Bulter disturbance on the forest landscape in Huzhong Forest Bureau of Great Xing' an Mountains. The statistical software pakage APACK was used to calculate the dis tribution area of D. superans and representative tree species, the aggregation index reflecting the spatial pattern, and the average area of forest patchs. The dynamics of forest landscape in the study region was simulated under two scenarios, i. e., with and without D. superans disturbance for 300 years (from 1990 to 2290). In the region, the distribution area of D. superans showed a trend of increased first and decreased then. Under D. superans disturbance scenario, the distribution area and the average patch size of Larix gmelinii in 0-150 years and the aggregation index of L. gmelinii in 0-190 years, the distribution area and the average patch size of Betula platyphylla and its aggre gation index in 80-190 years, as well as the distribution area, average patch size, and aggregation index of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica were lower or slightly lower than those under no disturbance scenario. D. superans disturbance led to the fragmentation of forest landscape to some extent.