The influence of selective cutting of mixed Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.) and broad-leaf forest on rare species distribution patterns and spatial correlation in Northeast China

Abstract

This study aimed to demonstrate change in spatial correlation between Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc.) and three rare species, and change in spatial distribution of four species in response to a range of selective cutting intensities. We sampled three plots of mixed Korean pine and broad-leaf forest in Lushuihe Forestry Bureau of Jilin province, China. Plot 1, a control, was unlogged Korean pine broad-leaf forest. In plots 2 and 3, Korean pine was selectively cut at 15 and 30 % intensity, respectively, in the 1970s. Other species were rarely cut. We used point-pattern analysis to research the spatial distributions of four tree species and quantify spatial correlations between Korean pine and the other three species, Amur linden (Tilia amurensis Rupr.), Manchurian ash (Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr.), and Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica Fisch.) in all three plots. The results of the study show that selective cutting at 15 % intensity did not significantly change either the species spatial patterns or the spatial correlation between Korean pine and broad-leaf species. Selective cutting at 30 % intensity slightly affected the growth of Korean pine and valuable species in forest communities, and the effect was considered nondestructive and recoverable.