• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.296-301
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• 2019

This study was conducted to measure litterfall and nutrient (P, K, Ca, Mg) inputs under varying degrees of disturbance by pine wilt disease in pine forests in southern Korea. Litterfall was collected to evaluate nutrient responses at different intensities of disturbance (various levels of basal area) by pine wilt disease across 2 years. Phosphorus, Ca, and Mg concentrations in needle litterfall were positively correlated (p < 0.05) with decreased disturbance intensities (increased basal area) depending on the time of sampling, whereas the nutrient concentrations in other litterfall components (branches, bark, reproductive organs, and miscellaneous litterfall) were not significantly correlated (p > 0.05) with the intensity of pine wilt disease disturbance. Dry weight and nutrient inputs through litterfall components decreased linearly with increasing intensity of disturbance by pine wilt disease (p < 0.05), except for the nutrient inputs of branch (K, Ca, Mg) and reproductive organ (K, Ca) litterfall. These results indicate that decreased litterfall across different levels of disturbance may be related to the reduced soil nutrients in pine wilt disease forests.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.359-375
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• 2018

The long term ecological effects have been reported in natural forest ecosystem due to various anthropogenic disturbances, especially in tropics of the world. The present study was carried out in the sanctuary area of central India to assess the changes on litter biomass, litterfall pattern and soil attributes under different disturbance regimes. The study area includes three forest circles i.e., Bhoramdeo, Jamunpani and Salehwara each comprising three disturbances regimes viz., high, medium and low severity of biotic pressure. A noticeable variation and impact were recorded in different sites. The impact varies significantly from least disturbed sites to highly disturbed sites across the circle and among different disturbances level. The seasonal mean total forest floor biomass across the forest circles varied from 2.18 to $3.30t\;ha^{-1}$. It was found highest under lightly disturbed site and lowest under heavily disturbed site. Total litterfall varied from 5.11 to $7.06t\;ha^{-1}\;yr^{-1}$ across the forest circle. Lowest litterfall was recorded at heavily disturbed site while highest in lightly disturbed site. Annual turnover of litter varied from 69-73% and the turnover time ranged between 1.37-1.45 years. The turn over time was higher for heavily disturbed site and lower for lightly disturbed site. The heavily disturbed site of all the circle showed the sandy loam soil texture, whereas moderately and lightly disturbed site comprised of sandy loam, sandy clay loam and clay soil texture, respectively. The bulk density decreases from heavily disturbed site to lightly disturbed site and the pH of soils ranged from 5.57-6.89 across the circle. Across the circle the total soil nitrogen ranged from 0.12-0.21%, phosphorus from 10.03-24.00 kg and Potassium from $139.88-448.35kg\;ha^{-1}$, respectively. Our results demonstrate that anthropogenic disturbances regime significantly influences forest floors in terms of mass, composition and dynamics along with litterfall rate and soil properties.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.2
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• pp.210-215
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• 2013

Litterfall production represents a major contribution of carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. This study was carried out to determine the litterfall production in a broadleaved deciduous forest at the Mt. Keumsan Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, Southern Korea. Littefall was collected monthly or bimonthly from the site for 7 years from 2004 to2010. Leaf and reproductive (catkins) litters showed a seasonal variation, but litters of needle, branch, and barks were not changed across the seasons. Annual leaf litter of Quercus serrata and Carpinus laxiflora were significantly different (p<0.05) but that of C. cordata, Chamaecyparis obtusa, and Pinus thunbergii was not significantly changed for 7 years (p>0.05). Annual average litterfall production was 5,223 kg/ha, but annual variations were very large with minimum of 4,110 kg/ha/yr in 2004 and maximum of 6,002 kg/ha/yr in 2007. Total litterfall comprised of 2,323 kg/ha/yr in Q. serrata, 442 kg/ha/yr in C. laxiflora, 157 kg/ha/yr in C. cordata, 131 kg/ha/yr in Acer pseudosieboldianum, 390 kg/ha/yr in other deciduous tree species, 74 kg/ha/yr in P. thunbergii, 37 kg/ha/yr in C. obtusa, 672 kg/ha/yr in branches, 515 kg/ha/yr in miscellaneous, 448 kg/ha/yr in reproductive parts, and 54 kg/ha/yr in barks. respectively. The results indicate that litterfall production of the Mt. Keumsan LTER site was yearly fructurated with the positive linear relationship between leaf or total litterfall and annual mean temperature if no disturbance such as a typoon, and was lower than that of other Korean LTER sites.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2000

When interpreting change over time in forest ecosystems, distinguishing the effects of forest succession from the effects of environmental stress can be difficult. The result may be a simplistic interpretation. citing a specific successional or environmental cause of forest change when both types may be occurring. We present two case studies of changes in the forest floor in northern hardwoods. First, the belief that 50% of soil organic matter is lost in the first 20 years after logging was based on a study comparing northern hardwood stands of different ages. We resampled a series of 13 such stands after an interval of 15 years, and found that the young stands were not, in fact. losing organic matter as rapidly as predicted from the original chronosequence study. The pattern of higher organic matter content in the forest floors of older stands compared to young stands could be equally well explained by changes in logging practices over the last century as by the aging of the stand. The observed pattern of forest floor organic matter as a function of stand age was previously interpreted as a successional pattern, ignoring changes in treatment history. In the second case study, observed losses of base cations from the forest floor were attributed to cation depletion caused by acid rain and declining calcium deposition. We found that young stands were gaining base cations in the forest floor; losses of base cations were restricted to older stands. Differences in litter chemistry in stands of different ages may explain some of the pattern in cation gains and losses. In this case, the contribution of successional processes to cation loss had been overlooked in favor of environmental stress as the dominant mechanism behind the observed changes. Studies of environmental stress use repeated measures over time. but often don't consider stand age as a factor. Studies of successional change often assume that environmental factors remain constant. We were able to consider both forest succession and external factors because we repeatedly sampled stands of different ages.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.627-633
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• 2014

Annual biomass production and amount of organic carbon in Abies koreana forest at Mt. Halla were conducted as a part of Korea National Long-Term Ecological Research (KNLTER). We measured standing biomass change of litter, soil production and organic carbon amounts of the forest floor and soil layer of A. koreana forest in Mt. Halla from 2009 to 2013 in permanent plots. Standing biomass, which was determined by allometric method, was converted into $CO_2$. The standing biomass in A. koreana forest was 98.88, 106.42, 107.67, 108.31, $91.48ton\;ha^{-1}$ in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 year, respectively. The amount of annual carbon allocated to above ground was 35.95, 38.69, 38.96, 39.46, $33.2ton\;C\;ha^{-1}$ and below ground biomass was 8.54, 9.2, 9.49, 9.28, $7.97ton\;C\;ha^{-1}$ in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 year, respectively. Amount of organic carbon returned to the forest via litterfall was 1.09, 1.80, 1.32, 2.46 and $1.20ton\;C\;ha^{-1}$ in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Amount of organic carbon in annual litter layer on forest floor was 2.74, 2.43, 2.00 and $1.16ton\;C\;ha^{-1}$ in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 year, respectively. Amount of organic carbon within 20cm soil depth was 55.77, 54.9, 50.69, 44.42 and $41.87ton\;C\;ha^{-1}20cm^{-1}$ in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 year, respectively. Then standing biomass and organic carbon distribution increased steadily until 2012. But there declined in 2013 because of the typhoon Bolaven. Thus, standing biomass and organic carbon distribution of this subalpine forest were largely affected by natural disturbance factor.