Biomass and nutrients of Pinus massoniana plantations in southern China: simulations for different management practices.

Abstract

We measured the dynamics of both biomass and nutrient pools on 7-, 17-, 31- and 51-year-old Pinus massoniana plantations in southern China. Using a chronosequence approach, we found that biomass of each component increased with aging while its proportion decreased except stem-wood. Nutrient pools varied with biomass pools except for foliage. For all harvest intensities (stem only, stem and branches, and aboveground), increasing the rotation length from 31 yrs to 51 yrs increased the biomass collection by ≥7.1% and reduced the nutrient export for K, Ca and Mg by ≤6.3% during 155 years, while N and P pools varied with harvesting intensities. A decreasing rotation length from 51 yrs to 17 yrs would increase the biomass collection by ≥12.4%, but remove significantly more nutrients. Although more biomass would be collected if harvesting intensity increased, the nutrient removal would have disproportionally increased. Therefore, increasing the rotation length and decreasing harvest intensity are recommended to sustain the site productivity for future Masson pine plantation.

Citation

Yang, Huixia; Wang, Silong; Zhang, Jianwei; Fan, Bing; Zhang, Weidong. 2011. Biomass and nutrients of Pinus massoniana plantations in southern China: simulations for different management practices. Journal of Food, Agriculture, and Environment 9(1): 689-693.