Effects of Thinning on Seed Dispersal by Ｒodents in Secondary Forest

<div>As a common management strategy in forestry production，thinning could have a significant</div><div>impact and interference on phytocoenosium and forest animals，and subsequently affect animal-mediated</div><div>seed dispersal and forest regeneration． To understand the potential influence of thinning on the process of</div><div>rodent-mediated seed dispersal，a study was conducted in April 2012． Seeds of Prunus armeniaca were</div><div>marked and tracked in un-thinning and thinning forest in Mt． Wangwu area． The results showed that: 1)</div><div>the relative density of rodent population drastically reduced from 6． 7% in un-thinning forest to 2． 7% in</div><div>thinning forest; 2) the density of tree and shrub in thinning forest decreases from 56． 3% to 72． 7% ; 3)</div><div>seed dispersal rate in un-thinning forest ( half survival time: 2 days) was significantly higher than in</div><div>thinning forest ( half survival time: 10 days) ; 4) the difference of burying depth between un-thinning for-</div><div>est ( 4． 3 ± 0． 1) cm and thinning forest ( 3． 9 ± 0． 2) cm was significant; 5) more scatter-hoarded seeds</div><div>were retrieved and buried again in un-thinning forest ( 20． 3% ) than in thinning forest ( 4． 4% ) ． These</div><div>results suggested that thinning have inevitable influence on plant community structure and the seed dis-</div><div>persal behavior of rodents，and finally affect the seed fate and seedling recruitment．