Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changes in vegetation and nitrogen mineralization during recovery of a montane subtropical broadleaved forest in North-eastern India following anthropogenic disturbance

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

Understanding the changes in the plant community and soil nitrogen (N) availability during natural recovery of a forest following clear-cutting is critical to develop post-disturbance forest management strategies. Therefore, post-clearcut changes in vegetation, net N mineralization rates and available N concentrations in soil were studied in a montane subtropical broadleaved forest during the early years of recovery following a chronosequence approach. Two replicate stands were selected for each treatment of old-growth undisturbed forest and recovering forest stands aged 1, 5 and 10 years. Following disturbance, tree species diversity and basal area declined but shrub and herb diversity increased. High percentage dissimilarity among the stands in tree, shrub and herb species composition indicated that species colonization varied with recovery age. NH4 +-N and NO3 −-N concentrations increased significantly (P < 0.001) following clear-cutting and the increasing trend continued until 5 years post-recovery, after which it declined. While ammonification rate remained unchanged with recovery age, nitrification and net N mineralization rates in 10-year-old and undisturbed forest were significantly greater (P < 0.001) than in 1- and 5-year-old forest, indicating that mineralization rates increased with recovery age. Despite high mineralization rates, low availability of soil N in the later years of recovery was attributed to high N uptake by growing vegetation and leaching because of high rainfall in Cherrapunjee. To ensure N availability during the later years of recovery, we suggest that forest management intervention should encourage aided regeneration of native N-fixing trees, e.g., Myrica esculenta, during the initial years of recovery.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler P, Melillo JM (1989) Nitrogen saturation in northern forest ecosystems. Bioscience 39:378–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Addo-Fordjour P, Obeng S, Anning AK, Addo MG (2009) Floristic composition, structure and natural regeneration in a moist semi-deciduous forest following anthropogenic disturbances and plant invasion. Int J Biodivers Conserv 1:21–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen SE, Grimshaw HM, Parkinson JA, Quarmby C (1974) Chemical analysis of ecological materials. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JM, Ingram JSI (1993) Tropical soil biology and fertility: a handbook of methods, 2nd edn. C.A.B International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

  • Arunachalam K, Arunachalam A (1999) Effect of temperature on N-mineralization in soils of humid subtropical regrowth in Meghalaya, India. Ind J Soil Cons 27:50–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Balakrishnan NP (1981–1983) Flora of Jowai and vicinity, Meghalaya (Vols. 1 and 2). BSI, Howrah

  • Barg AK, Edmonds RL (1999) Influence of partial cutting on site microclimate, soil nitrogen dynamics, and microbial biomass in Douglas-fir stands in Western Washington. Can J For Res 29:705–713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauhus J, Puettmann KJ, Kühne C (2013) Close-to-nature forest management in Europe: does it support complexity and adaptability of forest ecosystems? In: Messier C, Puettmann KJ, Coates KD (eds) Managing forests as complex adaptive systems: building resilience to the challenge of global change. The Earthscan forest library, Routledge, pp 187–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Begon M, Harper JL, Townsend CR (1990) Ecology: individual, populations and communities. Blackwell Science, Massachussets

    Google Scholar 

  • Belbin L, McDonald C (1993) Comparing three classification strategies for use in ecology. J Veg Sci 4:341–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belleau A, Brais S, Pare´ D (2006) Soil nutrient dynamics after harvesting and slash treatments in boreal aspen stands. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1189–1199

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Belote R, Sanders NJ, Jones RH (2009) Disturbance alters local regional richness relationships in Appalachian forests. Ecology 90:2940–2947

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz AR, Canham CD, Kelly VR (1995) Competition vs. facilitation of tree seedling growth and survival in early successional communities. Ecology 76:1156–1168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth MS, Stark JM, Rastetter E (2005) Controls on nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems: a synthetic analysis of literature data. Ecol Monogr 75:139–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadenasso ML, Traynor MM, Pickett STA (1997) Functional location of forest edges: gradients of multiple physical factors. Can J For Res 27:774–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao Y, Bark AW, Williams WP (1997) A comparison of clustering methods for river benthic community analysis. Hydrobiologia 347:25–40

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Champion HG, Seth SK (1968) A revised survey of forest types of India. Government of India Press, Delhi, pp 251–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman SK, Langley JA, Hart SC, Koch GW (2006) Plants actively control nitrogen cycling: uncorking the microbial bottleneck. New Phytol 169:27–34

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chettri A, Barik SK, Pandey HN, Lyngdoh MK (2010) Liana diversity and abundance as related to microenvironment in three forest types located in different elevational ranges of the Eastern Himalayas. Pl Ecol Div 3:175–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (1986) Plant Ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgren RA, Driscoll CT (1994) The effects of whole-tree clear-cutting on soil processes at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. Plant Soil 158:239–262

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dufrêne M, Legendre P (1997) Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecol Monogr 67:345–366

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott KJ, Boring LR, Swank WT (2002) Aboveground biomass and nutrient accumulation 20 years after clear-cutting a southern Appalachian watershed. Can J For Res 32:667–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eno CF (1960) Nitrate production in the field by incubating the soil in buried polyethylene bags. Soil Sc Soc Am Proc 24:277–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feng G, Kai Z, Yun-Qi Z, Qin W, Xiao-Niu X (2011) Nitrogen in soils beneath 18–65 year old stands of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in Laoshan Mountains in Eastern China. J For Res 22:583–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finer L, Mannerkoski H, Piirainen S, Starr M (2003) Carbon and nitrogen pools in an old-growth, Norway spruce mixed forest in eastern Finland and changes associated with clear-cutting. For Ecol Manage 174:51–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RF, Barr AG, Black TA, Margolis HA, Mccaughey JH, Trofymow JA (2010) Net ecosystem productivity of temperate and boreal forests after clearcutting—a Fluxnet-Canada measurement and modelling synthesis. Tellus 62B:475–496

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guntiñas ME, Leirós MC, Trasar-Cepeda C, Gil-Sotres F (2012) Effects of moisture and temperature on net soil nitrogen mineralization: a laboratory study. Eur J Soil Biol 48:73–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez Beltrán N, Gärtner S, Gaviriar JC, Meier W, Reif A (2012) Successional vegetation patterns in abandoned pastures of the lower montane cloud forest zone in the Venezuelan Andes. Phytocoenologia 42:101–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica 4:9

    Google Scholar 

  • Haridasan K, Rao RR (1985–1987) Forest flora of Meghalaya (Vols. 1 and 2). Bishen Singh Mahendrapal Singh, Dehradun, India

  • Hubbell SP (1979) Tree dispersion, abundance and diversity in a tropical dry forest. Science 203:1299–1309

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hynes HM, Germida JJ (2013) Impact of clear-cutting on soil microbial communities and bioavailable nutrients in the LFH and Ae horizons of Boreal Plain forest soils. For Ecol Manage 306:88–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jerabkova L, Prescott CE, Titus BD, Hope GD, Walters MB (2011) A meta-analysis of the effects of clearcut and variable-retention harvesting on soil nitrogen fluxes in boreal and temperate forests. Can J For Res 41:1852–1870

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kamei J, Pandey HN, Barik SK (2009) Tree species distribution and its impact on soil properties, and nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in a humid subtropical forest ecosystem of northeastern India. Can J For Res 39:36–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kent M (2012) Vegetation description and data analysis: a practical approach, 2nd edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kern CC, Palik BJ, Strong TF (2006) Ground-layer plant community responses to even-age and uneven-age silvicultural treatments in Wisconsin northern hardwood forests. For Ecol Manage 230:162–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmins JP (2004) Forest ecology: a foundation for sustainable forest management and environmental ethics in forestry, 3rd edn. Pearson Prentice Hall, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoepp JD, Swank WT (1997) Forest management effects on surface soil carbon and nitrogen. Soil Sci Soc Am J 61:928–935

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lalfakawma, Sahoo UK, Roy S, Vanlalhriatpuia K, Vanalalhluna PC (2009) Community composition and tree population structure in undisturbed and disturbed tropical semi–evergreen forest stands of North–east India. Appl Ecol Environ Res 7:303–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Wilson SD, Song Y (1999) Secondary succession in two subtropical forests. Plant Ecol 143:13–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li GC, Han XG, Huang JH (2004) N mineralization and nitrification in a primary Lithocarpus xylocarpus forest and degraded vegetation in the Ailao Mountain, Yunnan Province. Acta Bot Sin 46:194–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovell RD, Jarvis SC, Bardgett RD (1995) Soil microbial biomass and acidity in long-term grassland: effects of management changes. Soil Biol Biochem 27:969–975

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson WE, Lima OP, Reis FQ, Higuchi N, Ramos JF (1999) Logging activity and tree regeneration in an Amazonian forest. For Ecol Manage 113:67–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magurran AE, McGill BJ (2011) Biological diversity: frontiers in measurement and assessment. University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Maithani K, Arunachalam A, Tripathi RS, Pandey HN (1998) Nitrogen mineralization as influenced by climate, soil and vegetation in a subtropical humid forest in northeast India. For Ecol Manage 109:91–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miki T, Kondoh M (2002) Feedbacks between nutrient cycling and vegetation predict plant species coexistence and invasion. Ecol Lett 5:624–633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Misra R (1968) Ecology work book. Oxford and IBH Publication Co., New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss D, Wright JF, Furse MT, Clarke RT (1999) A comparison of alternative techniques for prediction of the fauna of running-water sites in Great Britain. Freshwater Biol 41:167–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noble IR, Slatyer RO (1980) The use of vital attributes to predict successional changes in plant communities subject to recurrent disturbances. Vegetatio 43:5–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell AM, Grove TS, Mendham DS, Rance SJ (2004) Impact of harvest residue management on soil nitrogen dynamics in Eucalyptus globulus plantations in south western Australia. Soil Biol Biochem 36:39–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okuda T, Adachi N, Suzuki M, Quah ES, Manokaran N (2003) Effect of selective logging on canopy and stand structure in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Peninsular Malaysia. Forest Ecol Manage 175:297–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owen JS, Wang MK, Wang CH, King HB, Sun HL (2003) Net N mineralization and nitrification rates in a forested ecosystem in northeastern Taiwan. For Ecol Manage 176:519–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paavolainen L, Smolander A (1998) Nitrification and denitrification in soil from a clear-cut Norway spruce (Picea abies) stand. Soil Biol Biochem 30:775–781

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Peltzer DP, Bast ML, Wilson SD, Gerry AK (2000) Plant diversity and tree responses following contrasting disturbances in boreal forest. For Ecol Manage 127:191–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson CJ, Squiers ER (1995) Competition and succession in an aspen-white-pine forest. J Ecol 83:449–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piatek KB, Allen HL (1999) Nitrogen mineralization in a pine plantation fifteen years after harvesting and site preparation. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:990–998

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prest D, Kellman L, Lavigne MB (2014) Mineral soil carbon and nitrogen still low three decades following clear-cut harvesting in a typical Acadian Forest stand. Geoderma 214–215:62–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radler K, Oltchev A, Panferov O, Klinck U, Gravenhorst G (2010) Radiation and temperature responses to a small clear-cut in a spruce forest. The Open Geogr J 3:103–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramakrishnan PS, Ram SC (1988) Vegetation, biomass and productivity of seral grasslands of Cherrapunji in north-east India. Vegetatio 74:47–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao P, Barik SK, Pandey HN, Tripathi RS (1990) Community composition and tree population structure in a sub-tropical broad-leaved forest along a disturbance gradient. Vegetatio 88:151–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redding TE, Hope GD, Fortin M-J, Schmidt MG, Bailey WG (2002) Spatial patterns of soil temperature and moisture across subalpine forest-clearcut edges in the southern interior of British Columbia. Can J Soil Sci 83:121–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rees DC, Juday GP (2002) Plant species diversity on logged versus burned sites in central Alaska. For Ecol Manage 155:291–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds PE, Thevathasan NV, Simpson J, Gordon A, Lautenschlager AM, Bell RA, Gresch WF, Buckley DA (2000) Alternative forest release treatments affect microclimate and soil nitrogen mineralization. For Ecol Manage 133:115–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rolecek J, Tichy L, Zeleny D, Chytry M (2009) Modified TWINSPAN classification in which the hierarchy respects cluster heterogeneity. J Veg Sci 20:596–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulze E-D, Beck E, Mueller-Hohenstein K (2005) Plant Ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen J (1948) A method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species content. Detkong. Dauske Vidrnsk. Selsk Biol Skn 5:1–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Templer P, Findlay S, Lovett G (2003) Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen transformations among five tree species of the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA. Soil Biol Biochem 35:607–613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Upadhaya K, Pandey HN, Law PS, Tripathi RS (2005) Dynamics of fine and coarse roots and nitrogen mineralization in a humid subtropical forest ecosystem of northeast India. Biol Fertil Soils 41:144–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Miegroet H, Homann PS, Cole DW (1992) Soil nitrogen dynamics following harvesting and conversion of red alder and Douglas-fir stands. Soil Sci Soc Am J 56:1311–1318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wall A, Hytönen J (2011) The long-term effects of logging residue removal on forest floor nutrient capital, foliar chemistry and growth of a Norway spruce stand. Biomass Bioenergy 35:3328–3334

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang F, Zhu W, Xia H, Fu S, Li Z (2010) Nitrogen mineralization and leaching in the early stages of a subtropical reforestation in Southern China. Restor Ecol 18:313–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westhoff V, van der Maarel E (1978) The Braun-Blanquet approach. In: Whittaker RH (ed) Classification of plant communities. Dr. W Junk, The Hague, pp 287–399

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Yan ER, Wang X, Huang J (2008) Decline of soil nitrogen mineralization and nitrification during forest conversion of evergreen broad-leaved forest to plantations in the subtropical area of Eastern China. Biogeochemistry 89:239–251

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zenner EK, Kabrick JM, Jensen RG, Peck JE, Grabner JK (2006) Responses of ground flora to a gradient of harvest intensity in the Missouri Ozarks. For Ecol Manage 222:326–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The first author is grateful to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Govt. of India for providing financial assistance in the form of NET-Junior Research Fellowship (File No: 09/347(0175)/2005-EMR-I). The facilities created under the Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Botany program were utilized for this research, for which the authors express their gratitude to the Coordinator of CAS, Department of Botany, and Head, Department of Botany, NEHU, Shillong. Thanks are also due to the Headmen of Sohrarim and Laitryngew villages who gave permission to carry out the research work in the forest stands under their jurisdiction. The authors are grateful for the valuable comments on the earlier versions of the ms. from the handling Editor of Ecological Research, Prof. Albert Reif and the anonymous reviewer who helped to improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, 793022, Meghalaya, India

    Wishfully Mylliemngap, Debashree Nath & Saroj Kanta Barik

Authors
  1. Wishfully Mylliemngap
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Debashree Nath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Saroj Kanta Barik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saroj Kanta Barik.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 7.

Table 7 Synoptic table of vascular plant species in an old-growth undisturbed and recovering forest stands
Full size table

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mylliemngap, W., Nath, D. & Barik, S.K. Changes in vegetation and nitrogen mineralization during recovery of a montane subtropical broadleaved forest in North-eastern India following anthropogenic disturbance. Ecol Res 31, 21–38 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1309-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1309-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation