PATH ANALYSIS OF SAPLING QUANTITY NATURALLY REGENERATED FROM SECONDARY FOREST OF JAPANESE RED PINE (PINUS DENSIFLORA)
赤松次生林天然更新幼树数量通径分析

The natural regeneration of the forest in Shandong peninsula was measured using a routine method from 1990 to 1994 and the original data was analyzed with method of Path Analysis using computer. The results show that the effects of crown density and the percentage vegetation cover on the sapling quantity were the largest. Both were the most important among the six factors affecting the regeneration. The forest regeneration was indirectly affected by slope and soil thickness, which represent topography and soil fertility of the forest, to a smaller extent as compared to the two factors mentioned above. The forest tree density was not significantly related to the sapling quantity and influenced the regeneration to a small extent. Bare rock percentage had little importance in multiplication of saplings because there were not many bare rocks in the forests, in general. Path Analysis could uncover the causality in interaction among variables, thus more could reveal the further relationship among variables.