Abstract
The effects of litter and understory harvesting by local people on the nutrient cycle in a pine forest in Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve (DHSBR) of subtropical China were studied by quantifying nutrient distribution, recycling, and loss in the ecosystem. The total nutrient standing stocks were estimated to be 2066 kg ha-' for N, 282 kg ha-' for P, 541 kg ha-' for K, 491 kg ha-' for Ca, and 151 kg ha-' for Mg. Most of these nutrients were contained in the top 10 cm of soil (72 to 94%). The total quantity of nutrients in the production of litterfall and understory were: 43.5 kg ha-' yr-' for N, 1.7 kg ha-' yr-' for P, 16.1 kg ha-' yr-' for K, 10.9 kg ha-' yr-' for Ca, and 2.7 kg ha-' yr-' for Mg. The harvest practice removed substantial quantities of these nutrients, 44 to 73 percent of the amount in litter and understory production, a rate that appeared to exceed most nutrient inputs from atmospheric deposition. In addition to the direct removal of nutrients, the harvest practice also reduced the active soil organic matter pool thus reducing nutrient mineralization and soil nutrient availability. An alternative system of tree harvest and replanting, combined with litter removal only, was proposed that reduced by one-third or more the present nutrient removals.
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