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Litterfall production and nutrient return in different-aged Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in South China

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Abstract

The amounts of litter produced and nutrients returned play a fundamental role in the productivity and biogeochemical and nutrient cycling of forest ecosystems. We monitored annual litterfall production, nutrient return, and monthly dynamics over a one-year period in Chinese fir plantations aged 10, 22, and 34 years. Our objective was to quantify litterfall and nutrient return over a complete harvest rotation of Chinese fir. Annual litterfall production increased with stand age and was recorded as (3,294.6 ± 360.4), (3,733.9 ± 211.2), and (4,876.1 ± 212.8) kg ha−1 a−1 in stands aged 10, 22 and 34 years, respectively. Total litter production was significantly greater in the stand aged 34 years than in the stand aged 10 years (p < 0.05). With the exception of miscellaneous components, needle litterfall constituted the highest proportion (27.5–43.6 %), followed by branches/twigs (9.5–16.6 %). In all three plantations, annual total nutrient return to soil was in the order of C (1,119.95–2,709.05 kg ha−1 a−1) > N (39.32–62.04 kg ha−1 a−1) > K (15.95–22.44 kg ha−1 a−1) > P (1.30–1.63 kg ha−1 a−1). C, N, K and P input to soil was significantly lower in the 10-year-old stand in comparison to the 22- and 34-year-old stands (p < 0.05). Litterfall production and nutrient return (C, N and K) followed similar patterns, and C and N input to soil was significantly related to litterfall production (needle, branch and total litterfall). C, N, P and K input to soil and total litterfall production were mainly driven by needle litterfall.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to: Chunhua Liu, Zongkai Jiang for assistant with field work; Xinding Liu, Qi Li, Junhong Wang, Linlin he, Pan Wang, Fengze Han, and Liqun Meng for field sampling; Shanshan Zheng, Xuejiao Chen for assistance in the lab. We also thank Haijun Kang for constructive comments on improving this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China

    Lili Zhou, Pengfei Wu, Shubin Li, Yayun Jia & Xiangqing Ma

  2. Chinese fir Engineering Technology Research Center of the State Forestry Administration, Fuzhou, 350002, People’s Republic of China

    Lili Zhou, Pengfei Wu, Shubin Li, Yayun Jia & Xiangqing Ma

  3. Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Addo-Danso Daniel Shalom

  4. Ecosystem Services and Climate Change Division, CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, KNUST, P.O. Box 63, Kumasi, Ghana

    Addo-Danso Daniel Shalom

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  1. Lili Zhou
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Correspondence to Xiangqing Ma.

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Corresponding editor: Zhu Hong

Project funding: This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31370619 and 31100472), Doctoral Program of Higher Education of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 20113515110009), Forestry Public Benefit Research Projects of National Forestry Administration (Grant No. 201304303), Science and Technology Major Project of the Fujian Province (Grant No. 2012NZ0001–1) and Training Program Foundation for University Distinguished Young Talents of Fujian Province, P. R. China (Grant No. JA 12091).

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Zhou, L., Shalom, AD.D., Wu, P. et al. Litterfall production and nutrient return in different-aged Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in South China. J. For. Res. 26, 79–89 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0011-y

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