Abstract:

Three gaps with different sizes were selected in Qingyuan Experimental Station of Forest Ecology，Institute of Applied Ecology，Chinese Academy of Sciences，which located in eastern montane regions of Liaoning Province，China for observations of air temperature and soil temperature. The observations were conducted in the gaps in June 2006，2 years after the formation of the gaps. The results indicated that both air and soil temperatures at the gap center points exhibited bell-shaped curves. The maximum temperatures occurred at different time in the gaps. The appearance of the highest temperature was earlier in large gap than that in small gaps. In the night，the larger the gap was，the lower the air temperature became. However，it was just opposite in the daytime. The highest temperature was at northern points nearby the center points for gap 1 and gap 2，and their appearance time was 10： 00 and 11： 00 respectively. But the highest temperature was at the center point for gap 3，and the appearance time was 13： 00. The soil temperatures at gap center points ranked as middle gap，large gap，and small gap. The soil temperature in gap 2 was higher than that in gap 1 and gap 2. The air temperature and soil temperature were significantly positive correlation for gap 1 and gap 3 (r=0.814，P<0.01和r=0.581，P<0.05).

Key words: secondary forest, forest gap, air temperature, soil temperature, eastern montane regions of Liaoning