Stand development on reforested bottomlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Reforestation of bottomland hardwood sites in the southeastern United States has markedly increased in recent years due, in part, to financial incentives provided by conservation programs. Currently >250,000 ha of marginal farmland have been returned to hardwood forests. I observed establishment of trees and shrubs on 205 reforested bottomlands: 133 sites were planted primarily with oak species (Quercus spp.), 60 sites were planted with pulpwood producing species (Populus deltoides, Liquidambar styraciflua, or Platanus occidentalis), and 12 sites were not planted (i.e., passive regeneration). Although oak sites were planted with more species, sites planted with pulpwood species were more rapidly colonized by additional species. The density of naturally colonizing species exceeded that of planted species but density of invaders decreased rapidly with distance from forest edge. Trees were shorter in height on sites planted with oaks than on sites planted with pulpwood species but within a site, planted trees attained greater heights than did colonizing species. Thus, planted trees dominated the canopy of reforested sites as they matured. Planted species acted in concert with natural invasion to influence the current condition of woody vegetation on reforested sites. Cluster analysis of species importance values distinguished three woody vegetation conditions: (1) Populus deltoides stands (2) oak stands with little natural invasion by other tree species, and (3) stands dominated by planted or naturally invading species other than oaks. Increased diversity on reforested sites would likely result from (a) greater diversity of planted species, particularly when sites are far from existing forest edges and (b) thinning of planted trees as they attain closed canopies.     

Studies on tree legumes

Twenty five species of tree legumes, belonging to genera Acacia, Albizzia, Bauhinia, Colophospermum, Dichrostachys, Leucaena, Peltophorum, Pithecolobium and Prosopis were examined for nodulation under pot culture conditions using unsterilized soil. Out of these, only nineteen tree-legumes nodulated. It was interesting to note that all the three species of Bauhinia and one each of Acacia, Colophospermum and Peltophorum did not nodulate both at Jodhpur and Delhi. Inoculation of tree legumes with their own rhizobial isolates, improved nodulation under sterilized conditions.     

N deposition, N transformation and N leaching in acid forest soils

Nitrogen deposition, mineralisation, uptake and leaching were measured on a monthly basis in the field during 2 years in six forested stands on acidic soils under mountainous climate. Studies were conducted in three Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] plantations (D20: 20 year; D40: 40 yr; D60: 60 yr) on abandoned croplands in the Beaujolais Mounts; and two spruce (Picea abies Karst.) plantations (S45: 45 yr; S90: 90 yr) and an old beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stand (B150: 150 yr) on ancient forest soils in a small catchment in the Vosges Mountains. N deposition in throughfall varied between 7–8 kg ha^–1 year^–1 (D20, B150, S45) and 15–21 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 (S90, D40, D60). N in annual litterfall varied between 20–29 kg ha^–1 (D40, D60, S90), and 36–43 kg ha^–1 (D20, S45, B150). N leaching below root depth varied among stands within a much larger range, between 1–9 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 (B150, S45, D60) and 28–66 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 (D40, S90, D20), with no simple relationship with N deposition, or N deposition minus N storage in stand biomass. N mineralisation was between 57–121 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 (S45, D40, S90) and between 176–209 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 in (B150, D60 and D20). The amounts of nitrogen annually mineralised and nitrified were positively related. Neither general soil parameters, such as pH, soil type, base saturation and C:N ratio, nor deposition in throughfall or litterfall were simply related to the intensity of mineralisation and/or nitrification. When root uptake was not allowed, nitrate leaching increased by 11 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 at S45, 36 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 at S90 and between 69 and 91 kg ha^–1 yr^–1 at D20, D40, B150 and D60, in relation to the nitrification rates of each plot. From this data set and recent data from the literature, we suggest that: high nitrification and nitrate leaching in Douglas-fir soils was likely related to the former agricultural land use. High nitrification rate but very low nitrate leaching in the old beech soil was related to intense recycling of mineralised N by beech roots. Medium nitrification and nitrate leaching in the old spruce stand was related to the average level of N deposition and to the deposition and declining health of the stand. Very low nitrification and N leaching in the young spruce stand were considered representative of fast growing spruce plantations receiving low N deposition on acidic soils of ancient coniferous forests. Consequently, we suggest that past land use and fine root cycling (which is dependent on to tree species and health) should be taken into account to explain the variability in the relation between N deposition and leaching in forests.     

6种人工针叶幼林下地表苔藓植物层片的物种多样性与结构特征

 为了评估人工林苔藓植物发育状况,同时为人工林生态功能评价提供依据,采用样地取样方法,调查分析了岷江上游大沟流域6种人工幼龄针叶林（川西云杉(Picea balfouriana)林、日本落叶松(Larix kaempferi)林、油松(Pinus tabulaeformis)林、华山松(Pinus armandii)林、油松-华山松混交林和川西云杉-华山松混交林）林下地表苔藓植物层片物种组成、多样性以及结构特征及其异同。6种人工林下共发现了19种苔藓,各林下组成数量在7～13种。除云杉林外,纯林下苔藓种数均小于或者等于混交林下;6种人工林下地表苔藓植物平均盖度、平均密度、平均厚度分别在0.41%±1.49%～17.79%±1.67%、(27.99±367.95)～(3 807.11±412.90)株•m-2和(1.80±1.51)～(19.89±1.69) mm之间。无论是多样性指数,还是结构参数,均以川西云杉林最高,而华山松林最低。总体说来,岷江上游人工针叶幼林下地表苔藓组成物种较少、物种多样性指数（物种丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener指数）低、Simpson指数高、结构参数（密度、盖度、厚度）较小,说明林下地表苔藓植物组成单一、结构相当简单,发育不良。综合分析表明,具有相对较低林冠郁闭度与林木密度的云杉林是6类人工林中恢复状况相对最好的类型,暗示出疏伐、修枝等管理措施可促进人工密林下地表苔藓植物生物多样性以及地表苔藓植物层片结构的改善。     

Soil organic matter and yield of forest and tree crops

Summary Three hundred and sixty eight soil samples collected from the surface layers of plantations of coffee (Coffea robusta) andGmelina arborea (a forest tree crop) were analyzed for organic carbon, total nitrogen and loss-on-ignition as the case might be. The aim was to investigate the direct influence of soil organic matter on the yield of tree crops in different ecological zones of Nigeria. Coffee yield collected at different harvests and total coffee yield were seperately regressed on soil organic carbon content. In most cases, positive regressions of coffee yield on soil organic carbon were recorded. Consistent positive correlations between each of indicators of soil organic matter and girth ofGmelina arborea were recorded in the order of organic carbon, nitrogen and loss-on-ignition. The relationship between C: N ratio and the performance of Gmelina depended on which of organic carbon and soil nitrogen was more influential at a particular location.