Table 1. Characteristics of the sites and the Quercus aquifolioides shrub stands studied on a SE-facing slope of Mt. Zeduo, Sichuan, SW China.
| Mean air temperature (°C)* | Shrubs | |||||||||
| Elevation (m a.s.l.) | Slope exposure | Annual | July | January | Annual precipitation (mm) | Length of growing season (days)** | Age (years) | Mean height (m) | Density (clumps ha−1) | Canopy coverage |
| 3950 | SE | −1.3 | 5.0 | −13.9 | No data | 157 | 30–35 | 1.21±0.11 | 3300±260 | 0.75±0.06 |
| 3500 | SE | 1.6 | 8.7 | −10.1 | No data | 166 | 30–35 | 2.08±0.18 | 3520±310 | 0.80±0.05 |
| 3000 | SE | 4.7 | 12.7 | −5.8 | 827.2 | 179 | 30–35 | 2.65±0.25 | 3650±330 | 0.85±0.06 |
| 2616 | SE | 7.1 | 15.8 | −2.5 | 804.5 | 191 | Meteorological station | |||
*
Mean air temperatures at 3500 and 3950 m a.s.l. were calculated using temperature lapse rates derived from data measured at 3000 m (data collected from 2005 to 2009) and 2616 m a.s.l. (data for 1975–2009), for annual, July, and January temperature, respectively.
**
Mean growing season length (days with a mean temperature of ≥5°C) at 3500 and 3950 m a.s.l. was derived from measured data at 2616 and 3000 m a.s.l.