Quantitative Comparisons of Soil Carbon and Nutrient Storage in Larix leptolepis, Pinus densiflora and Pinus rigitaeda Plantations

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate soil carbon and nutrient storage of three adjacent coniferous plantations (Larix leptolepis, Pinus densiflora and Pinus rigitaeda) growing on a similar site with a same planting age (42-year old) in the Sambong Exhibition Forests, Hamyang-gun, Gyungsangnam-do. The soil carbon concentration among three plantations was not significantly different in 0∼10cm soil depth, but other two depths (10∼20cm and 20∼30cm) showed higher carbon concentration in P. densiflora plantation than the other two plantations. The exchangeable cation concentrations (Ca and Mg) in 0∼10cm depth were significantly lower in L. leptolepis plantation than in the other two plantations, while nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations were not significantly different among three plantations except for nitrogen at 10∼20cm depth in P. rigitaeda plantation. Soil carbon storage in 0∼20cm depth of three plantations was unaffected by the stand types. Soil nutrient storage was not significantly different at each depth except for nitrogen storage at 10∼20cm depth in P. rigitaeda plantation because of the variation of bulk density and coarse fragment. This result demonstrates that soil carbon and nutrient concentrations among the plantations on a similar soil condition can be altered significantly by tree species effects over 40 years after plantation establishment.