Impact of Soil Conditions on Tree Growth

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 2859

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Ecological Engineering and Forest Hydrology-Head, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31–120 Krakow PL istopada 46, 31-425 Krakow, Poland
Interests: forest ecology; restoration ecology; soil-plant relationships; nutrient cycling; carbon sequestration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At a time of dynamic environmental changes, especially climate change, the increasingly frequent occurrence of extreme weather conditions and large-scale forest depletion and disturbance and soil and trophic conditions remains one of the basic tree growth factors. Trees, in turn, hugely impact the remaining components of forest ecosystems, including vegetation of the undergrowth and animals through crown density, regulation of temperature and light conditions, as well as litter fall, root systems, and competition. Therefore, the stability of tree stands determines the dynamics of forest ecosystems and the widely understood natural environment. Moreover, production of timber, raw wood, and biomass, as well as CO2 absorption, are some of the basic functions of tree stands and forest ecosystems. On the other hand, in recent years, changes and increases in productivity related to growing CO2 concentration and nitrogen deposition and a rise in average air temperature have been reported. As a result of a combination of these factors and increment in above-ground biomass associated with a greater supply of nitrogen, deficiencies of other macroelements and dysfunctions in mineral nutrition of trees may occur. In addition to the supply of macroelements and their relationships, the impact of soil pollutant concentration of, for instance, heavy metals in some regions is still crucial. The significance of droughts and disturbed water relations on the condition of stands has also emerged. In the assessment of tree reactions to environmental stress and determination of habitat productivity, appropriate assessment of trophic conditions of soils is important, e.g., using soil quality indices and modeling tree growth with the so-called geocentric models. Nonetheless, in understanding the correlations between the soil and tree stands, comparison of research results from nondisturbed systems (natural forests) and managed forests may prove very useful. Taking into account the above scientific questions and the need to obtain results from the latest international expert research, we would like to devote a Special Edition of Forests to these issues. The results of the latest research in this field will lead to the formulation of most important conclusions as well as research problems to be solved.

Prof. Marcin Pietrzykowski
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Tree growth
  • Tree stands
  • Soil quality
  • Environmental changes
  • Tree stand productivity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 2600 KiB  
Article
Influence of Thorny Bamboo Plantations on Soil Microbial Biomass and Community Structure in Subtropical Badland Soils
by Ed-Haun Chang, Guanglong Tian, Yo-Jin Shiau, Tsai-Huei Chen and Chih-Yu Chiu
Forests 2019, 10(10), 854; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10100854 - 1 Oct 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2474
Abstract
Vegetation in southeastern Taiwan plays an important role in rehabilitating badland soils (high silt and clay content) and maintaining the soil microbial community. The establishment of thorny bamboo (Bambusa stenostachya Hackel) may have had a profound impact on the abundance and community [...] Read more.
Vegetation in southeastern Taiwan plays an important role in rehabilitating badland soils (high silt and clay content) and maintaining the soil microbial community. The establishment of thorny bamboo (Bambusa stenostachya Hackel) may have had a profound impact on the abundance and community structure of soil microorganisms. However, little is known regarding the influence of bamboo on soil biota in the badland ecosystem. The present study was conducted at three badland sites in southwestern Taiwan and focused on the measurement of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) together with soil microbial biomass C (Cmic) and N (Nmic) contents, enzyme activities, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) assessments. The abundances of whole soil microbes as well as bacterial and fungal groups—as evident by PLFA, Cmic and Nmic contents—were much higher in the bamboo plantation soils than the bare land soils. The increased soil organic matter in bamboo plantations relative to the control largely explained the enhancement, the abundance and diversity in the soil microbial community. Principal component analysis of individual PLFA peaks separated the bamboo plantation soil from the non-plantation bare land soil. DGGE analysis also revealed a difference in both bacterial and fungal community structures between soil types. Redundancy analysis of PLFA peak abundance and soil properties indicated that microbial community structure was positively correlated with soil organic C and total N and negatively correlated with pH. This differentiation could be attributed to bamboo in suitable habitats providing an essential nutrient source for soil microbes. The pH reduction in these alkaline soils also contributed to the increase in the size of the microbial community in bamboo-regenerated soils. Together, the results of this study indicate that bamboo plantations are beneficial for soil microbial activities and soil quality in badland areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Soil Conditions on Tree Growth)
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