China’s forest resource dynamics based on allometric scaling relationship between forest area and total stocking volume

Abstract

Forest management may play a critical role in optimizing forest resource structure and increasing harvest yield. Analyzing forest resource growth dynamics is a basis for correctly determining forest management procedures. Thus, allometric scaling equations were developed to estimate forest growth trends based on seven regional forest systems and the overall national forest system in China. Historical trends in all seven regional forest systems were estimated with high coefficients of determination (R2 > 0.85), and the national forest resource system had a significantly higher coefficient (R2 = 0.984), which demonstrated the optimized fit of our model. Growth factors of the regional forest resource systems ranged from 0.77 to 1.62, whereas the growth factor of the national resource system was 0.89. Degeneration analysis indicated a semi-degeneration trend in the allometric scaling, possibly caused by limited land availability for afforestation. Consequently, it is imperative to improve forest resource management and focus on enhancing forest resource quality. In general, China’s forest resources have developed in an optimized process characterized by continual increases in the total stocking volume and forest area and continued improvement of forest quality and structure. Forest management will play a critical role in China's forestry development in the future. Key words: China forest resource, allometric fractal growth relationship, forest area, stocking volume.