The relationship between the moss community characteristics and the regeneration in the dark coniferous forest of Changbai Mountain

Dark coniferous forest is a major subalpine forest of Changbai Mountain, where the resources of bryophtes are abundant and in some places, their coverage can reach over 80%. Since the moss is the main ground cover, it is very important to study how it effects the forest regeneration. In this study, the moss community characteristics, such as moss cover and moss depth, were used on how they affect the regenerations of the dominant species in the dark coniferous forest. We analyzed the correlations between moss cover, moss depth and seedling numbers of dominant species. When the moss cover was more than 40%, or its depth was more than 4 cm, the number of seedlings in Pinus koraiensis, Abies nephrolepis, and Acer ukurunduense had significant negative correlations with the moss cover or its depth. But when moss depth was less than 4cm, the moss layer has positive effect on the seedlings of Acer ukurunduense and Sorbus pohuashanensis. Based on the analysis of the effects of moss cover and moss depth on coniferous seedling heights it was found that under some condition moss layers had positive effects on seedling heights of Pinus koraiensis and Picea jezoensis var. komarovii.