Vegetation C–N–P accumulation and allocation patterns at the community level in early restored plantations in the loess hilly-gully region

Huifeng Wu; Baoan Hu; Ying Ma; Wenkai Shi; Xiaoqin Cheng; Fengfeng Kang; Hairong Han

doi:10.1016/j.fecs.2023.100132

Forest Ecosystems 2023, 10(4): 100132 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fecs.2023.100132

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Open Access | Issue | Published: 14 August 2023

Vegetation C–N–P accumulation and allocation patterns at the community level in early restored plantations in the loess hilly-gully region

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Huifeng Wu^{^a^,^b}, Baoan Hu^{^a^,^b}, Ying Ma^{^a^,^b}, Wenkai Shi^{^c}, Xiaoqin Cheng^{^a^,^b}, Fengfeng Kang^{^a^,^b}, Hairong Han^{^a^,^b}(

)

School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

Qilaotu Mountain National Observation and Research Station of Chinese Forest Ecosystem, Chifeng, 024400, China

Shanxi Forestry and Grassland Engineering Station, Taiyuan, 030000, China

Keywords:

Afforestation, Plant organ, Biomass accumulation, Element allocation

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Wu H, Hu B, Ma Y, et al. Vegetation C–N–P accumulation and allocation patterns at the community level in early restored plantations in the loess hilly-gully region. Forest Ecosystems, 2023, 10(4): 100132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fecs.2023.100132

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Abstract

Accumulation of vegetation biomass is a crucial process for carbon fixation in the early stage of afforestation and a primary driving force for subsequent ecological functions. Accurately assessing the storage and allocation of elements in plantations is essential for their management and estimating carbon sink capacity. However, current knowledge of the storage and allocation patterns of elements within plant organs at the community level is limited. To clarify the distribution patterns of elements in plant organs at the community level, we measured the biomass within plant organs of five typical plantations in the early stage of afforestation in the loess hilly-gully region. We assessed the main drivers of element accumulation and distribution by employing redundancy analysis and random forest. Results revealed significant differences in biomass storages among plantations and a significant effect of plantation type on the storages of elements within plant organs. Furthermore, the dominant factors influencing C–N–P storage and allocation at the community level were found to be inconsistent. While the storage of elements was mainly influenced by stand openness, total soil nitrogen, and plant diversity, the allocation of elements in organs was mainly influenced by stand openness and soil water content. Overall, the spatial structure of the community had an important influence on both element storage and allocation, but soil conditions played a more important role in element allocation than in storage. Random forest results showed that at the community level, factors influencing element storage and allocation within plant organs often differed. The regulation of elemental storage could be regulated by the major growth demand resources, while the allocation was regulated by other limiting class factors, which often differed from those that had a significant effect on element storage. The differences in plant organ elemental storage and allocation drivers at the community level reflect community adaptation strategies and the regulation of resources by ecosystems in combination with plants. Our study provides valuable insights for enhancing plantation C sink estimates and serves as a reference for regulating element storage and allocation at the local scale.

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Vegetation C–N–P accumulation and allocation patterns at the community level in early restored plantations in the loess hilly-gully region

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Huifeng Wu^{^a^,^b}, Baoan Hu^{^a^,^b}, Ying Ma^{^a^,^b}, Wenkai Shi^{^c}, Xiaoqin Cheng^{^a^,^b}, Fengfeng Kang^{^a^,^b}, Hairong Han^{^a^,^b}(

)

School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

Qilaotu Mountain National Observation and Research Station of Chinese Forest Ecosystem, Chifeng, 024400, China

Shanxi Forestry and Grassland Engineering Station, Taiyuan, 030000, China

Abstract

Keywords: Afforestation, Plant organ, Biomass accumulation, Element allocation

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Received: 31 May 2023

Revised: 29 July 2023

Accepted: 02 August 2023

Published: 14 August 2023

Issue date: August 2023

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the foresters at Wuqi Forest Farm for their assistance in data collection and for sharing their experiences working in the local forests. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).