Effect of forest thinning and wood quality on the short-term wood decomposition rate in a Pinus tabuliformis plantation

Wang, Weiwei; Page-Dumroese, Deborah; Jurgensen, Martin; Tirocke, Joanne; Liu, Yong

doi:10.1007/s10265-018-1069-y

JPR Symposium
Published: 30 October 2018

Effect of forest thinning and wood quality on the short-term wood decomposition rate in a Pinus tabuliformis plantation

Weiwei Wang¹,
Deborah Page-Dumroese²,
Martin Jurgensen³,
Joanne Tirocke² &
Yong Liu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6958-0205¹

Journal of Plant Research volume 131, pages 897–905 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

The effects of forest thinning and wood quality on wood decomposition in the mineral soil were investigated in a Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis Carriére) plantation in northern China by measuring mass loss and changes in wood properties (carbohydrates, lignin and nitrogen (N) concentrations) in wood stakes of two tree species—loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.). Stakes were inserted to a 20 cm soil depth in stands with three thinning levels (low, moderate, and heavy) and an unharvested control and removed after 1 year. There were significant differences in stake mass loss among the treatments. The species effect on the stake mass loss was marginally significant. Wood N content of both species increased during decomposition in all thinning treatments, and was only correlated with aspen mass loss. Wood properties of stakes placed in each stand before insertion (t = 0) were similar, except for pine lignin concentration and aspen lignin: N ratio, but neither had any effect on thinning treatment results. Lignin concentration increased and carbohydrate concentration decreased in both aspen and pine wood stakes during decomposition across all thinning treatments, which suggests that brown-rot fungi are dominant wood-decomposers on our study site. We conclude that thinning has a significant influence on the wood decomposition in the mineral soil of this Chinese pine plantation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Armando McDonald at University of Idaho for providing the methods and assistance for lignin and carbohydrate analysis and to Dr. Ann Abbott at the University of Idaho for the statistical review. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30972353).

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Authors and Affiliations

Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation, Ministry of Education, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China
Weiwei Wang & Yong Liu
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 1221 South Main Street, Moscow, ID, 83843, USA
Deborah Page-Dumroese & Joanne Tirocke
School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA
Martin Jurgensen

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Weiwei Wang
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Deborah Page-Dumroese
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Martin Jurgensen
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Joanne Tirocke
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Yong Liu
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Wang, W., Page-Dumroese, D., Jurgensen, M. et al. Effect of forest thinning and wood quality on the short-term wood decomposition rate in a Pinus tabuliformis plantation. J Plant Res 131, 897–905 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-018-1069-y

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Received: 03 February 2018
Accepted: 28 September 2018
Published: 30 October 2018
Issue Date: November 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-018-1069-y

Keywords

Forest thinning
Wood decomposition
Pinus taeda L.
Populus tremuloides Michx.
Lignin concentration
Nitrogen