The dwarf bamboo Sasa kurilensis has responded to recent climate change by expanding its distribution into alpine snow meadows in Japan. Tall, dense clonal patches of bamboo suppress alpine plant growth, alter ecosystem functioning, and reduce diversity. We aim to assess the ecological impacts of bamboo expansion and the effectiveness of bamboo control for restoring alpine vegetation and species diversity. We quantified the extent of bamboo expansion, its effects on an alpine ecosystem, and the recovery of species diversity by bamboo removal over 6 years in Daisetsuzan National Park, northern Japan. We established paired, experimental plots assigned to either removal or control treatments following an encroaching gradient from interior to terminal locations in a large bamboo patch. We monitored bamboo development and aboveground production, and its impact on soil moisture and species diversity to assess the recovery process of snow meadow species after its removal. In control plots, bamboo density consistently increased and accumulated biomass from year to year. In the removal treatment, bamboo culm density, height and biomass decreased through time at all locations. Furthermore, soil moisture increased in the removal plots and remained consistently higher than controls throughout the growing season. Dwarf bamboo strongly suppressed alpine plants and reduced species diversity. However, alpine snow meadow species rapidly recovered and diversity increased through time in the removal treatment. This study presents an effective management strategy for restoring alpine plant diversity impacted by bamboo expansion under global climate change.

中文翻译：

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高山植物群落的退化和恢复：实验性去除侵蚀性矮竹

矮竹Sasa kurilensis为了应对最近的气候变化，日本将其分布范围扩大到了高山雪地草甸。高大而密集的竹子丛抑制了高山植物的生长，改变了生态系统的功能，并减少了多样性。我们旨在评估竹子扩张对生态的影响以及竹子控制对恢复高山植被和物种多样性的有效性。我们量化了日本北部大雪山国家公园6年内竹子扩张的程度，其对高山生态系统的影响以及通过去除竹子所恢复的物种多样性。我们建立了一个成对的实验地块，按照从大竹块内部到最终位置的侵蚀梯度分配给去除或对照处理。我们监测了竹子的开发和地上的生产，及其对土壤水分和物种多样性的影响，以评估除雪草甸物种恢复后的过程。在对照样地中，竹子密度逐年增加并累积了生物量。在去除处理中，竹秆的密度，高度和生物量在所有位置均随时间下降。此外，清除地上的土壤水分增加，并且在整个生长季节中始终保持高于对照水平。矮竹强烈抑制了高山植物并减少了物种多样性。然而，在清除处理中，高山雪草甸物种迅速恢复，并且多样性随着时间的推移而增加。这项研究提出了一种有效的管理策略，以恢复全球气候变化下受竹子扩张影响的高山植物多样性。