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Thinning alters crown dynamics and biomass increment within aboveground tissues in young stands of Chamaecyparis obtusa

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Journal of Forest Research

Abstract

The stand density of a forest affects the vertical distribution of foliage. Understanding the dynamics of this response is important for the study of crown structure and function, carbon-budget estimation, and forest management. We investigated the effect of tree density on the vertical distribution of foliage, branch, and stem growth, and ratio of biomass increment in aboveground tissues; by monitoring all first-order branches of five trees each from thinned and unthinned control stands of 10-year-old Chamaecyparis obtusa for four consecutive years. In the control stand, the foliage crown shifted upward with height growth but the foliage quantity of the whole crown did not increase. In addition, the vertical distribution of leaf mass shifted from lower-crown skewed to upper-crown skewed. In the thinned stand in contrast, the foliage quantity of individual crowns increased two-fold within 4 years, while the vertical distribution of leaf mass remained lower-crown skewed. The two stands had similar production rates, numbers of first-order branches per unit of tree height, and total lengths of first-order branches. However, the mortality rate of first-order branches and self-pruning within a first-order branch were significantly higher in the control stand than in the thinned stand, which resulted in a higher ratio of biomass increment in branch. Thinning induced a higher ratio of biomass increment in foliage and lower in branch. The increased foliage quantity and variation in ratio of biomass increment after thinning stimulated stem growth of residual trees. These results provide information that will be useful when considering thinning regimes and stand management.

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Acknowledgments

We thank a number of people from the Laboratory of Plant Production, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) who participated in the field measurements. We thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the earlier version of this paper. All statistics were calculated with SAS/STAT and the assistance of the Computer Center for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research, MAFFIN, Japan. This research was supported by a grant from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment for Global Environment Research and a research grant from the FFPRI.

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Author notes

  1. Qingmin Han

    Present address: Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Hitsujigaoka 7, Toyohira, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 062-8561, Japan

  2. Tatsuro Kawasaki & Yukihiro Chiba

    Present address: Research Planning and Coordination Department, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Ecology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

    Qingmin Han, Daisuke Kabeya, Satoshi Saito, Tatsuro Kawasaki, Chiharu Migita & Yukihiro Chiba

  2. Kyushu Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kurokami 4-11-16, Kumamoto, 860-0862, Japan

    Masatake G. Araki

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  1. Qingmin Han
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Correspondence to Qingmin Han.

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Han, Q., Kabeya, D., Saito, S. et al. Thinning alters crown dynamics and biomass increment within aboveground tissues in young stands of Chamaecyparis obtusa . J For Res 19, 184–193 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-013-0405-2

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