Initial disturbance intensity affects recovery rates and successional divergence on abandoned ski slopes

The importance of site history (including initial disturbance intensity and propagule arrival) in determining successional trajectories is a key theoretical and applied line of research in ecology. Abandoned ski slopes provide an opportunity to study successional processes following differing initial disturbance intensities. Some ski slopes are graded with heavy equipment when constructed (‘graded’, severe initial disturbance), while others are simply cleared of tall woody vegetation (‘cleared’, lesser initial disturbance). In a blocked chronosequence study of graded and cleared ski slopes abandoned 10–43 years previously, we found that graded ski slopes did not show predictable recovery trajectories over many decades. In contrast, cleared ski runs showed significant convergence with adjacent reference forest communities. Convergence in community composition on cleared ski runs was driven by trees, though understorey species were more numerous and dominant during succession. Understorey...

生境历史（包括初始干扰强度（initial disturbance intensity）与繁殖体到达（propagule arrival））在决定演替轨迹（successional trajectories）中的重要性，是生态学领域一项关键的理论与应用研究方向。废弃滑雪场为研究不同初始干扰强度后的演替过程提供了契机。有些滑雪场在建造时会用重型设备进行平整（‘平整型’，初始干扰严重），而另一些仅清除高大木本植被（‘清除型’，初始干扰较轻）。在一项针对废弃10至43年的平整型与清除型滑雪场的区组时间序列（blocked chronosequence）研究中，我们发现平整型滑雪场在数十年间未呈现可预测的恢复轨迹。相比之下，清除型滑雪道与相邻参照森林群落呈现显著趋同。清除型滑雪道群落组成的趋同由树木驱动，尽管演替过程中下层物种（understorey species）数量更多且占主导地位。下层植被...