Abstract
The Huanglong Mountain forest zone is one of the major natural secondary forest zones in the southern Loess Plateau in Shaanxi Province, China. Since 1950, a mode of fully closed hillside afforestation (FHA) has been applied in the forest. On some special sites, the forest age exceeds 80 years. Pinus tabulaeformis forests form the most important vegetation cover in the warm temperate regions of China. Similarly, populations of P. tabulaeformis are dominant in existing forest ecosystems. Quercus liaotungensis, Syringa oblata, Populus davidiana, Prunus davidiana, Betula platyphylla and Toxicodendron vernicifluum can be occasionally found in the tree layer and shrub species are abundant. Based on the data collected from 31 plots and 93 soil samples, the state of health of the forest ecosystem is discussed and the appropriate FHA age has been determined. Twelve indices representing vegetation and soil properties in natural, secondary P. tabulaeformis forest ecosystems were generated by sensitivity analysis and an assessment index system for the FHA mode was established. According to the equal distance method, a clustering technique and five grades of an integrated index for evaluating the FHA mode were compartmentalized. The effect of the FHA mode on natural secondary P. tabulaeformis forests was evaluated by an integrated index method with the aid of an analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The results are as follows: values of the integrated index in the FHA mode of 16, 25, 30, 45, 60 and 75 year old stands were 7.25, 6.88, 7.82, 5.51, 4.78 and 2.79 respectively. With an increase over age of the FHA stands, the effect of the FHA mode deteriorated. We conclude that natural forests should not be protected in the FHA way after 45 years. At that stage, mixing suitable tree species, selection cutting and other silvicultural and management measures should be adopted.
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Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2007, 27(1): 288–295 [译自: 生态学报]
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Hou, L., Lei, R. & Zhang, S. Assessment of the effect of a fully closed hillside afforestation mode on the natural Pinus tabulaeformis forest. Front. For. China 3, 183–188 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11461-008-0023-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11461-008-0023-x