Analyzing and understanding the structure and growth dynamics of semi-natural plantations is useful for their management. Since 1987, 16 plots with 4 treatments (CT: control; LT: light thinning; MT: medium thinning; and HT: heavy thinning) by 0, 20, 30 and 40% of basal area removal, respectively, and four replications were established in semi-natural larch-spruce-fir forests in northeast China. The structure and growth dynamics of semi-natural larch-spruce-fir stands and the effects of thinning on the growth, structure and diversity were examined. A mixed model repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA) was used to test the effects of treatment and time.
Results showed that differences in periodic annual increment (PAI) of stand basal area and volume and the individual diameter and volume among treatments changed over time in a complex statistical interaction. Thinning, however, had a significant effect on growth at tree and stand levels 12 years after thinning while the PAI of the diameter, basal area and volume was positively correlated with thinning intensity. No significant differences were found in the total stand yield among treatments. Composition of tree species group (larch, other conifers and deciduous trees) during monitoring years did not change significantly. Moreover, no significant differences were observed in tree species and size diversity among treatments in the years following thinning. Both thinning and control plots had similar understory plant diversity after the 12 year period. Univariate point pattern analysis revealed that clumped and random distributions were dominant for tree species groups in this study. The current species composition and regeneration dynamics within these semi-natural plantations suggested a development towards mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests. Management implications for the transformation from larch plantations towards mixed broad-leaved Korean forests with a more diverse structure, the climax vegetation in this region, were discussed. 相似文献
The nitrogen (N) cycling was elucidated in a 40-year-old subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest dominated by Cyclobalanopsis glauca growing on red soil in Zhejiang Province, East China. The concentrations of N in the representative species ranged from 0.49%
to 1.64%, the order of which in various layers was liana and herb layers > understory layer > tree and subtree layers; in
various organs was leaf > branch > root > trunk; and aboveground parts > underground parts. The sequence of the concentrations
of N in C. glauca was understory > tree > subtree layer; young and high-growing > old organs; reproductive > vegetative organs. Seasonal dynamics
of the concentrations of N in C. glauca in the tree and subtree layers was comparatively stable. It was lower in autumn (October) in root, branch, and leaf in the
tree layer, and low in January in the understory. There was no evident change in regularity of the concentrations of N in
varying diameter classes. The concentrations of N in the litterfall, precipitation, throughfall, litter layer, and soil were
0.74%–2.30%, 0.000,038%, 0.000,09%, 1.94%, and 0.59%, respectively. The standing crop of N in the plant community was 1,025.28
kg/hm2, accumulation in the litter layer was 224.88 kg/hm2, and reserve in the soil was 55,151 kg/hm2. Annual retention of N was 119.47 kg/hm2, return was about 84.13 kg/hm2, among which litterfall was 78.49 kg/hm2 and throughfall, 5.64 kg/hm2. Annual absorption of N was 203.60 kg/hm2. Annual input of N through incident precipitation was 4.88 kg/hm2. Compared with other forest types, cycling rate of N in the community was lower than in deciduous broad-leaved forests, rain
forests, and mangroves, and was moderate in evergreen broad-leaved forests. N use efficiency of this forest was moderate among
the forest types cited. According to the characteristics of the biocycle of phosphorous, it was concluded that N availability
in the soil of this forest was not lower, and phosphorous not N was the limiting factor in the growth of plants in this community.
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Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2005, 25(4): 740–748 [译自: 生态学报, 2005, 25(4): 740–748] 相似文献