Fertilization Effects on Understory Vegetation Biomass and Structure in Four Different Plantations

Biomass and species diversity of understory vegetation after fertilization were studied for 28-year-old Quercus acutissima plantation (MQA), 29-year-old Pinus densiflora plantation (MPD), 8-year-old Betula platyphylla var. japonica plantation after coal reclamation (YBP), and 4-year-old Pinus densiflora plantation after forest fire (YPD) in central Korea. Nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium (6:4:1) fertilizer was applied for 3 years from 2004. Thereafter photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and understory species richness and diversity were measured in late July-early August 2006. PAR (${\mu}mol\;m^{-2}S^{-1}$) was higher at the fertilization treatment (100.9) than at the control (67.0) for MQA while was lower at the fertilization treatment (156.5) than at the control (268.7) for MPD. Total understory biomass (t $ha^{-1}$) was lower at the fertilization plot (1.8) than at the control plot (3.0) for YPD, however, there were no differences in biomass between fertilization and control plots for MQA, MPD and YBP. Total species number of understory vegetation was higher for fertilization than for control at MPD (47 vs. 45) and YPD (21 vs. 13), and was higher for mature plantations (33 vs. 37 for MQA and 47 vs. 45 for MPD) than for young plantations (16 vs. 16 for YBP and 21 vs. 13 for YPD). Species richness and diversity were higher at the fertilization treatment than at the control for MQA, YBP, and YPD while were lower at the fertilization treatment than at the control for MPD, however, the differences were not statistically significant. Our results indicate that there were no consistent patterns in light conditions, biomass and species richness and diversity of understory vegetation following fertilization. More detailed long-term studies with different fertilizer applications would be necessary to conclude the influence of fertilization on understory vegetation in the region.