Nutrient Dynamics Assessment of Coarse Wood Debris Subjected to Successional Decay Levels of Three Forests Types in Northeast, China

Kashif Khan,Lixin Chen,Tran Thi Tuyen,Qiwen Guo,Muhammad Atif Jamil,Changzhun Li,Meixue Qu,Wenbiao Duan,Anwaar Hussain,Attaullah Khan,Yafei Wang

doi:10.3390/f12040401

Abstract

Coarse wood debris (CWD) plays a critical role in forest productivity, nutrient cycling, decomposition, and carbon sequestration, and shapes the carbon pool in the forest ecosystem. However, the elemental composition of CWD varies among different forest types and decay classes for the same dominant tree species (Pinus koraiensis, PK). We compared CWD elemental composition across different forest types (Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF), Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF), Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest (TPF)), considering four classes of wood decay. Results showed that N, P, Mg, Mn, Na, Zn, S, Al, and Fe concentrations almost totally increased with decay level for all three forest types, except for K in all three forest types and B in Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF). Similarly, maximum concentrations of N, P, B, Mg, K, C, Zn, and Mn of CWD were observed in Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF) under varying decay classes, but their maximum concentrations of Fe and S were found in Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF) and Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest(TPF), respectively. Only C content did not significantly differ in decay classes across all three forest types. The C:N ratio decreased significantly with increasing decay levels across all forest types. The decay rates were significantly related to N concentration and C:N ratio in decay classes across all forest types. These results suggest that C and N concentration are the key factors affecting its decomposition. The variation in nutrient concentrations observed here underscores the complexity of nutrients stored in wood debris in forested ecosystems.

Highlights

Our results revealed that nutrient concentrations among three forest types showed that the majority of maximum nutrient concentrations of the coarse wood debris of Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF) was significantly greater than those of Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF) and
We found that the nutrient availability of the coarse wood debris (CWD) in the forest under the Picea koraiensisAbies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF) and Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest (TPF) differed significantly (Tables 2 and 3)
We concluded that the dead Pinus koraiensis (PK) in three different forest types of Picea koraiensis-Abies nephrolepis-Pinus koraiensis forest (PAPF), Betula costata-Pinus koraiensis forest (BPF), and Tilia amurensis-Pinus koraiensis forest (TPF)

Summary

Introduction

CWD plays numerous roles in the forest ecosystem in the recycling of nutrients, which stimulates soil properties [5]. It contains huge volumes of C and serves as a source of providing bio-available carbon (C) and enriching the soil by the decomposition of wood for C [7,8]. Owing to its dominant role in forest C cycling, CWD has been examined several times [9,10] It has been less often considered in assessments of the decomposition of fine litter to N and other nutrient cycles [11]. Certain factors are involved, which directly and indirectly affect the quality and distribution of CWD, such as site, tree species, age and distribution dynamics, tree mortality, and decomposition rate, which greatly influence the quantity and distribution of CWD [2,14]

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