Early effects of crop tree management on undergrowth plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties in a Pinus massoniana plantation

PeerJ

article

Qian Lyu¹  Yi Shen¹  Xianwei Li¹  Gang Chen¹  Dehui Li³  Chuan Fan¹ 

[1] College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University;Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Prairie Bureau on Forest Resources Conservation and Ecological Security in the Upper Reaches of Yangtze River, Sichuan Agricultural University;College of Urban and Rural Planning and Construction, Mianyang Normal University

关键词: Crop trees;    Soil physicochemical properties;    Dominant species;    Plant diversity;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.11852

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSoil and understory vegetation are vital components of forest ecosystems. Identifying the interaction of plantation management to vegetation and soil is crucial for developing sustainable plantation ecosystem management strategies. As one of the main measures of close-to-nature management of forest plantation, few studies have paid attention to the effect of crop tree management on the soil properties and understory vegetation.MethodsA 36-year-old Pinus massoniana plantation in Huaying city, Sichuan Province was taken as the research object to analyse the changes in undergrowth plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties under three different crop tree densities (100, 150, and 200 N/ha).ResultsOur results showed that the contents of available phosphorus, organic matter and hydrolysable nitrogen in the topsoil increased significantly after crop tree management, while content of available potassium decreased. The composition of shrub and herb layer was richer, and the dominant species were obviously replaced after crop tree management. The Shannon–Wiener index and Richness index of shrub layer, and the diversity of herb layer increased significantly after crop tree management. Herb layer diversity indexes and Richness index of shrub layer were closely related to soil organic matter, available phosphorus, hydrolysable nitrogen, available potassium, soil moisture and bulk density. As the main limiting factors for plant growth, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were closely related to plant diversity and to the distribution of the dominant species. At the initial stage of crop tree management, each treatment significantly improved the soil physicochemical properties and plant diversity of Pinus massonianaCK. Compared with other treatments, 200 N/ha had the best effect on improving the undergrowth environment of the Pinus massoniana plantation in the initial stage of crop tree management.

【 授权许可】

CC BY