Assessment of early survival and growth of planted Scots pine(Pinus sylvestris) seedlings under extreme continental climate conditions of northern Mongolia

Environmental factors play vital roles in successful plantation and cultivation of tree seedlings.This study focuses on problems associated with reforestation under extreme continental climatic conditions.The objectives were to assess relative seedling performance(survival and growth)with respect to plantation age,and to analyze the influence of specific climatic factors during the early stages of Scots pine(Pinus sylvestris L.)plantations.The study was carried out in reforested areas of the Tujyin Nars region of northern Mongolia on six Scots pine plantations ranging from 5 to 10 years.In each of the six plantations,five 900 m^2 permanent sample plots were established and survival rates and growth performance measured annually over 7 years.Results show high variation in survival among the plantations(p<0.001,F=29.7).Seedling survival in the first year corresponded directly to the number of dry days in May.However,survival rate appeared to stabilize after the second year.The insignificant variation of height categories throughout the observation period indicated low competition among individuals.Two linear mixed-effect models show that height and radial growth were best explained by relative air humidity,which we consider to be a reliable indicator of site-specific water availability.Insufficient amounts and uneven distribution of rainfall pose a major threat during the first year of plantation establishment.Humidity and water availability are decisive factors for a successful seedling plantation.This highlights the impact of drought on forest plantations in northern Mongolia and the importance of developing climate resilient reforestation strategies.

Estimation of effective plant area index for South Korean forests using LiDAR system

Light Detection and Ranging(LiDAR) systems can be used to estimate both vertical and horizontal forest structure.Woody components,the leaves of trees and the understory can be described with high precision,using geo-registered 3D-points.Based on this concept,the Effective Plant Area Indices(PAIe) for areas of Korean Pine(Pinus koraiensis),Japanese Larch(Larix leptolepis) and Oak(Quercus spp.) were estimated by calculating the ratio of intercepted and incident LIDAR laser rays for the canopies of the three forest types.Initially,the canopy gap fraction(GLiDAR) was generated by extracting the LiDAR data reflected from the canopy surface,or inner canopy area,using k-means statistics.The LiDAR-derived PAIe was then estimated by using GLIDAR with the Beer-Lambert law.A comparison of the LiDAR-derived and field-derived PAIe revealed the coefficients of determination for Korean Pine,Japanese Larch and Oak to be 0.82,0.64 and 0.59,respectively.These differences between field-based and LIDAR-based PAIe for the different forest types were attributed to the amount of leaves and branches in the forest stands.The absence of leaves,in the case of both Larch and Oak,meant that the LiDAR pulses were only reflected from branches.The probability that the LiDAR pulses are reflected from bare branches is low as compared to the reflection from branches with a high leaf density.This is because the size of the branch is smaller than the resolution across and along the 1 meter LIDAR laser track.Therefore,a better predictive accuracy would be expected for the model if the study would be repeated in late spring when the shoots and leaves of the deciduous trees begin to appear.

Changes in annual CO_2 fluxes estimated from inventory data in South Korea

Using a slightly modified IPCC method, we examined changes in annual fluxes of CO2 and contributions of energy consumption, limestone use, waste combustion, land-use change, and forest growth to the fluxes in South Korea from 1990to 1997. Our method required less data and resulted in a larger estimate of CO2released by industrial processes, comparing with the original IPCC guideline. However, net CO2 emission is not substantially different from the estimates of IPCC and modified methods. Net CO2 emission is intimately related to GDP as Koreaneconomy has heavily relied on energy consumption and industrial activities, which are major sources of CO2. Total efflux of CO2 was estimated to be 63.6 Tg C/ain 1990 and amounted to 112.9 Tg C/a in 1997. Land-use change contributed to annual budget of CO2 in a relatively small portion. Carbon dioxide was sequesteredby forest biomass at the rate of 6.5 Tg C/a in 1990 and 8.5 Tg C/a in 1997. Although CO2 storage in the forests increased, the sink effect was overwhelmed by extensive energy consumption, suggesting that energy-saving strategies will be more effective in reducing CO2 emission in Korea than any other practices. It is presumed that plant uptake of CO2 is underestimated as carbon contained in plant detritus and belowground living biomass were not fully considered. Furthermore, the soil organic carbon stored in forest decomposes in various ways in rugged mountains depending on their conditions, such as slope, aspect and elevation, which could have an effect on decomposition rate and carbon stores in soils. Thus, carbon sequestration of forests deserves further attention.

利用激光雷达数据估算韩国森林有效植被面积指数

雷达系统能够同时探测森林的水平结构和垂直结构,结合地面控制点还可以高精度地描绘森林中的树干、树冠及林下植被.基于此理念,通过计算雷达激光束被拦截的比例估算红松(Pinus koraiensis)、日本落叶松(Larix leptolepis)和栎类(Quercus sp.)的有效植被面积指数(PAIe).从冠层表面或冠层内部反射的雷达数据中利用k-均值聚类方法提取林隙分数(GLIDAR),根据比尔-朗伯吸收定律和GLIDAR计算PAIe.结果显示,利用雷达数据推算的红松、日本落叶松和栎类的PAIe与实际测量的PAIe之间的相关系数分别为0.82,0.64和0.59.不同树种之间雷达测量值与实测值之间相关性的差异,主要来自于叶片与枝条数量的不同.如果没有树叶,激光雷达的脉冲只能由枝条反射,然而枝条的大小往往小于激光雷达的分辨率(1m),所以与长满树叶的枝条相比,光秃的枝条反射雷达脉冲的几率非常小.因此,若在春季末期树叶出现后进行此类研究,估算的准确度将有所提高.