Impacts of close-to-nature management on the stand states of Masson pine forests

Chai, Zongzheng; Tan, Wei

doi:10.1080/20964129.2020.1846461

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 29 publications

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“…Close-to-nature management is a cultivation strategy that aims to convert pure plantation forests into near-natural forest ecosystems through various management measures, including the introduction of tree species, structural adjustment, promotion of natural regeneration, and protection of understory plant diversity ( O’Hara, 2016 ; Schütz et al., 2016 ). These approaches have been shown to improve species diversity ( Stokes et al., 2021 ), stand structure ( Fang et al., 2021 ; Feng et al., 2022 ), carbon storage ( Deng et al., 2023 ), and community succession ( Chai and Tan, 2020 ). Under-canopy afforestation, which combines thinning and understory replanting of seedlings or saplings, is an effective method for transforming pure plantations into uneven-aged mixed forests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Gao,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Under-canopy afforestation using different tree species is a key approach in close-to-nature management to improve the structural and functional stability of plantation forests. However, current research on understory afforestation mainly focuses on the seedling stage, with limited attention to saplings or young trees. In this study, we evaluated the growth characteristics and leaf traits of 14-year-old Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica trees under four different upper forest density (UFD) treatments: 0 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 100%, CK), 150 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 51.9%, T1), 225 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 43.2%, T2), and 300 trees/hm2 (canopy openness 28.4%, T3). We found that the survival rate of P. sylvestris in the T3 was significantly lower than in the other treatments, with a decrease of 30.2%, 18.3%, and 19.5% compared to CK, T1, and T2, respectively. The growth of P. sylvestris in the T1 treatment exhibited superior performance. Specifically, T1 showed a significant increase of 18.8%, 5.5%, and 24.1% in tree height, diameter at breast height, and crown width, respectively, compared to the CK. The mean trunk biomass ratio in the understory was significantly higher than that in full light by 15.4%, whereas the mean leaf biomass ratio was significantly lower by 12.3%. Understory P. sylvestris trees tended to allocate more biomass to the trunk at the expense of decreasing leaf biomass, which would facilitate height growth to escape the shading environment, although the promotion was relatively limited. Leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, leaf thickness, mesophyll tissue thickness, epidermis thickness, and leaf carbon content were the highest in the CK and tended to decrease with increasing UFD, indicating that a high-light environment favored leaf growth and enhanced carbon accumulation. In summary, young P. sylvestris trees adapted to moderate shading conditions created by the upper canopy, and the T1 treatment was optimal for the growth of understory P. sylvestris. This study provides insights into different adaptive strategies of young P. sylvestris trees to changes in light environment, providing practical evidence for under-canopy afforestation using light-demanding trees during pure plantation transformation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Gao,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Close-to-nature management positively improves the spatial structure of Masson pine forest stands

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Close-to-nature management (CTNM) has been proposed as a promising forestry management approach to improve the structure and quality of forests, which integrates wood production and ecological service functions. Research on the effect of CTNM on the univariate and bivariate distribution of the spatial structure of forest stands provides a scientific basis for the evaluation of CTNM implemented in forestry. Here, we analyzed and compared the spatial-structure characteristics of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) plantations (young, middle-age, and near-mature stages) under CTNM 8 years after selective cutting and unmanaged control. We used univariate and bivariate distribution of three spatial-structure parameters: mingling (M), dominance (U), and uniform-angle index (W). Results showed that the effect of CTNM on spatial structure was more remarkable in middle-aged and near-mature Masson pine forests compared with the young forest. CTNM significantly improved mingling degree and promoted the horizontal distribution, thereby changing from a cluster to a random distribution. Moreover, CTNM improved the proportion of trees with a high mixing degree and random distribution and the proportion of trees having a micro-structure of random distribution with a high degree of mixture and dominance with a high degree of mixture in middle-aged and near-mature Masson pine forest. Overall, the implementation of CTNM 8 years ago showed a positive effect on the improvement of the spatial structure of Masson pine forest, but the present spatial structure is suboptimal. Further implementation of CTNM to adjust the mingling and uniform-angle index is necessary, and CTNM according to this method of frequency distribution of stand structure parameters can improve the success of forest management.

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Impacts of close-to-nature management on the stand states of Masson pine forests

Cited by 2 publications

References 29 publications

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Under-canopy afforestation after 10 years: assessing the potential of converting monoculture plantations into mixed stands

Close-to-nature management positively improves the spatial structure of Masson pine forest stands

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