ABSTRACT
Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve (CMNR) is characterized by vertically distributed ecosystems surrounding the volcanic summit at 2,749 meters above sea level. Integrated information from remote sensing and in situ survey revealed that the current vertical zonal base bands are following the same distribution followed about 800 years ago. The rareness of Betula ermanii in carbonized wood buried in volcanic ashes suggests that pre-eruption distribution of B. ermanii was smaller in area than the current extension. Volcanic eruptions destroyed high-altitude vegetation, lowered the tree line, and affected species composition. The differences in silvan vegetation composition between CMNR and the similar settings of cold temperate and mid-temperate zones suggest the impacts of past volcanic eruptions on the current vegetation structures. This study concludes that traces of volcanic eruptions exist in forest ecosystems in the CMNR after 800 years of the last devastating volcanic eruption.
