Plantation transformation alternatives determine carbon sequestration capacity — a case study with Pinus massoniana in southern China

• Published in: Journal of mountain science 2020-04, Vol.17 (4), p.919-930
• Main Authors: Ruan, Lu-ping, Lu, Yuan-chang, Meng, Jing-hui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Atmospheric models; Carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Castanopsis; Climate change; Control; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Economics; Enrichment; Environment; Forest management; Forestry; Forests; Geography; Global warming; Growth rate; Monoculture; Monoculture (aquaculture); Pine trees; Pinus massoniana; Plantations; Silviculture; Species; Transformations; Trees; Tropical climate; Tropical forests
• ISSN: 1672-6316; 1993-0321; 1008-2786
• DOI: 10.1007/s11629-019-5411-1

It is widely accepted that global warming, which results from the increase of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere, has a negative impact on human beings. Forests are the largest terrestrial ecosystem and play an important role in carbon sequestration. Many studies have documented that a mixed-species forest can sequester more carbon than single species forests, depending on the site conditions. Therefore, uneven-aged mixed-species forest management has been receiving more and more attention. In 2008, an experiment with five silvicultural models for Pinus massoniana (Chinese red pine) plantation, i.e., four transformation treatments (A1-A4) and one control treatment (A5) was conducted in the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of Chinese Academy of Forestry in Pingxiang City, in southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. The four transformation treatments (A1-A4) enriched Castanopsis hystrix, Manglietia glance, Erythrophleum fordii and Quercus griffithii with differed richness and composition after thinning (removed 70% of trees), while no silvicultural treatment was used in the control treatment A5. In this study, we compared the carbon sequestration capacity of these five silvicultural models based on periodic annual increment and growth rate. Our results indicated that all the transformation treatments performed significantly better in carbon sequestration than the control treatment. A significant difference was also observed amongst the transformation treatments. Moreover, the transformation treatment A1 with enrichment species Castanopsis hystrix (350 trees·ha −1 ) and Manglietia glance (350 trees·ha −1 ) was determined to be the optimal model for maximum carbon sequestration because of its high tree-level growth rate and high economic value of enriched plantings, which could be popularized in other places. Our results further confirmed that management using mixed-species forests is a better approach to combat climate change than using monoculture forests.