Altered leaf functional traits by nitrogen addition in a nutrient-poor pine plantation: A consequence of decreased phosphorus availability.

This study aimed to determine how specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) respond to N addition and understory vegetation removal in a 13-year-old Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) plantation. Traits (SLA, LDMC, individual needle dry weight, N and P concentrations) of different-aged needles and their crown-average values were measured, and their relationships with soil N and P availability were examined. N addition and understory removal reduced soil Olsen-P by 15-91%. At the crown level, N addition significantly reduced foliar P concentration (by 19%) and SLA (by 8%), and elevated N concentration (by 31%), LDMC (by 10%) and individual leaf dry weight (by 14%); understory removal did not have a significant effect on all leaf traits. At the needle age level, traits of the previous year's needles responded more strongly to N addition and understory removal than the traits of current-year needles, particularly SLA and N concentration. SLA and LDMC correlated more closely with soil Olsen-P than with soil inorganic N, and LDMC correlated more closely with soil Olsen-P than SLA did. These results indicate that aggravated P limitation resulting from N addition and understory removal could constrain Mongolian pine growth through their effects on the leaf traits.

[Effects of nitrogen addition on grassland species diversity and productivity in Keerqin Sandy Land].

Species diversity and productivity are the important indices of the structure and functioning of ecosystems. With Keerqin sandy grassland as test object, this paper studied its species composition, species diversity, and productivity under effects of different level nitrogen (N) addition. Nitrogen addition altered the species composition and the dominant species in the community, increased the vegetation height and coverage, and decreased vegetation light penetration. With the increase of N addition, both the species richness and the diversity decreased. Nitrogen addition increased the aboveground biomass significantly (P<0.01). There was a significant positive relationship between species richness and vegetation light penetration (P<0.01), and a significant negative relationship between species richness and vegetation coverage (P<0.01). It was suggested that nitrogen deposition and artificial nitrogen addition would affect the species composition, species diversity, and productivity of sandy grassland ecosystem.

[Rhizosphere effects of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica on soil phosphorus transformation].

To understand the phosphorus (P) mobilization mechanism of Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) on a P-deficient semi-arid sandy soil of northern China, this paper compared the P fractions and acid phosphomonoesterase (AP) activity in the bulk and rhizosphere soils under different age Mongolian pine plantations. The results showed that when compared with the bulk soil, the organic C, labile organic P, and organic C/P ratio increased significantly, microbial and AP activities improved, and organic P mineralization accelerated in the rhizosphere soil. Root activity of the Mongolian pine significantly increased the bioavailability of soil P, and accelerated the shift of organic P and Ca-P to Fe-P and Al-P. The rhizosphere effects on soil P in different forms enhanced with stand age, whereas in adverse on AP activity. The bulk and rhizosphere soil had the similar trend in the dynamics of its P fractions with stand age. Soil total P pool reduced gradually while labile P pool increased with stand age. It should be essential to protect forest floor to replenish soil P pool and guarantee a long-term soil P supply.

[Decline of protective forest and its prevention strategies from viewpoint of restoration ecology: taking Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantation in Zhanggutai as an example].

Aimed at the decline of protective forest in China, and applying the key principles of restoration ecology, such as ecological succession, disturbance, and population density, etc., this paper assessed the rationality of designing elements of protective forest in decision-making level, and analyzed its relationships with the decline of the forest, taking Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantation in Zhanggutai sandy land as an example. It was considered that the disagreement of large-scale afforestation with succession climax in regional scale was aberrant to the ecological principles, and resulted in the aberrancy of the objectives, steps, species composition, and stand density of protective forest establishment, being the main cause of protective forest decline. Mismanagement and frequent natural and human disturbances were also the important causes for the decline. Three strategies for preventing the decline, i.e., better understanding damaged ecosystems, increasing material and energy input, and overcoming disturbances were put forward, and the objectives of restoring vegetation, judgment of climax for ecological succession, and application of plagioclimax in establishing artificial vegetation were discussed.

[Changes of carbon storage and carbon sequestration in plantation ecosystems on purple soil].

This paper studied the carbon storages and carbon sequestration capacities of degraded plantation ecosystems in purple soil area. Using space-time replacement method, four ecological restoration treatments (I, II, III and IV) were selected on the basis of erosion intensions from high to low in Ninghua, Fujian. Treatment I was not treated with any other measures after afforestation. Treatment II adopted engineering soil and water conservation measure after afforestation. In treatment III, the engineering measure associated biological measure was taken after afforestation. As for treatment IV, enclosure was adopted to protect against anthropogenic disturbances after afforestation. We observed that the carbon sequestration potential was increased with weakening erosion degree, i.e., I < II < III < IV. The carbon storage of 4 treatments was 1.4, 8.5, 25.6 and 37.6 t x hm(-2), and the annual assimilation of CO2 was 712.87, 1458.01, 9718.10 and 11,109.56 kg x hm(-2), respectively. It was suggested that the restored forest ecosystem was one of the important carbon sinks in this area. Engineering soil and water conservation measure associated biological measure would be the main means of restoring degraded ecosystem. But presently, the reasonable strategy was to decrease human's disturbances, and hence, the enclosure for reforestation could be used to transform forest ecosystem into carbon sink.