Pine Plantation Forest Research Articles

Do forest property characteristics reveal landowners' willingness to accept payments for ecosystem services contracts in southeast Georgia, U.S.?

Previous research has found that the manner in which forests are managed reveals forest owners' goals and management preferences for their properties. In this study, we attempt to predict forest owners' participation in payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs using observable forest management in southeast Georgia, U.S. For this task, we rely on forest property characteristics identified from publicly available aerial images and databases. We examine whether and how forest property characteristics are related to family forest owners' preferences towards PES programs. The results from a random parameter logit model indicate that forest owners in southeast Georgia with planted pine forests, bottomland hardwood forests, or residential structures are more likely to participate in hypothetical PES programs. The results also indicate that forest owners' willingness to accept compensation to participate in PES programs is negatively related to the proportion of planted pine and bottomland hardwood forest areas, and to the existence of a residential structure on one's property. Findings of our study indicate the potential of revealed forest property characteristics in identifying and targeting PES programs.

Economic Contributions of the Forest Industry and Forest-based Recreation in Florida in 2016

The state of Florida is half woods, with 26,807 square miles of forestland. Our extensive natural and planted pine and hardwood forests are used for production of a wide variety of wood building materials, consumer paper and packaging products, chemicals, and renewable biomass fuels. In addition to industrial forest-related activity, public forestlands in Florida support a variety of recreational activities, attract a significant number of recreational visitors, and provide many non-marketed environmental or ecosystem services. This 4-page fact sheet written by Christa Dean Court, Alan W Hodges, and Mohammad Rahmani and published by the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department describes a study that analyzed the economic contributions of the forest industry and forest-based recreation activities to the state of Florida in 2016. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1051

Land‐use changes influence the sporulation and survival of Phytophthora agathidicida, a lethal pathogen of New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis)

AbstractPhytophthora agathidicida is the accepted causal agent of dieback in remnant stands of long‐lived indigenous New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) and poses a significant threat to the long‐term survival of this species. Little is known about the effect of key soil physicochemical characteristics on the growth of P. agathidicida. In this study, we investigated the growth of P. agathidicida in soils collected from adjacent areas under original kauri forest, short rotation pine (Pinus radiata) plantation forest and grazed pastures. A growth response assay was used to quantify asexual (sporangia) and sexual (oospore) spore counts over 8 days in soils sampled from each land‐use. Significantly higher numbers of sporangia (p < 0.001) and oospores (p < 0.01) were found in pasture and pine forest soil within 2 days of the growth assay trials, suggesting these soils may favour asexual/sexual reproduction in the early stages of P. agathidicida establishment compared to kauri forest soils. Additionally, oospore production significantly increased over 8 days in pine forest soil, suggesting that with an increase in inoculum loads, these soils potentially act as pathogen reservoirs. The soil physicochemical properties (e.g., pH, C and N, phosphorus content and electrical conductivity) investigated in this study did not significantly correspond to spore count data between land‐uses, suggesting that differences in growth response are driven by other edaphic factors not explored in the present study.

Scots pine forest plantations growth in the conditions of sand pits recultivation

Scots pine forest plantations growth in the conditions of sand pits recultivation

Вуглецепоглинальна здатність соснових лісових насаджень Волинського Полісся

Вуглецепоглинальна здатність соснових лісових насаджень Волинського Полісся

Canopy temperature from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle as an indicator of tree stress associated with red band needle blight severity

Monoculture plantation woodlands are particularly vulnerable to disturbance events as species uniformity makes such stands highly susceptible to pests and diseases. Red band needle blight (caused by the fungus Dothistroma septosporum) is a disease which has a particularly significant economic impact on pine plantation forests worldwide, affecting diameter and height growth. However, monitoring its spread and intensity is complicated by the fact that the diseased trees are often only visible from aircraft in the advanced stages of the epidemic. Remote sensing could potentially aid in the detection of infected stands and in monitoring disease development and spread. Thermography is one of the techniques that can be used for monitoring changes in the physiological state of plants following infection. However, the use of thermography in forestry has so far been restricted by poor spatial resolution (satellite-based sensors) or high data acquirement costs (airborne sensors). This paper investigates the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-borne thermal systems for detecting disease-induced canopy temperature increase and explores the influence of the imaging time and weather conditions on the detected relationship. Furthermore, the potential of a number of airborne LiDAR-derived structural metrics for detection of changes in the canopy structure following the infection are investigated. The study was located in a diseased Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) stand in Queen Elizabeth II Forest Park (central Scotland, UK), where 60 sample trees were surveyed. The thermal imagery was acquired at six different times of a day from an altitude of 60 m. Statistically significant correlation between canopy temperature depression (CTD) and disease levels was found for most of the flights (R2 between 0.27 and 0.41), which may be related to the needle damage symptoms caused by the disease, i.e. loss of cellular integrity, necrosis and eventual desiccation. Furthermore, the standard deviation of the crown temperature exhibited weak but statistically significant correlation (R2 between 0.11 and 0.13). The combination of CTD and standard deviation of crown temperature in a partial least squares regression (PLSR) further improved the observed relationship with the estimated disease level. Inclusion of LiDAR structural metrics was also investigated but only provided a slight improvement. A change in environmental conditions altered the magnitude of differences between canopy temperatures; no significant correlation with disease level was found in the morning flight, whilst the strongest relationship was obtained at the time of highest solar radiation, which coincides with the time of maximum photosynthetic activity.

Is thinning an alternative when trees could die in response to drought? The case of planted Pinus nigra and P. Sylvestris stands in southern Spain

Previous research has provided insights into the potential response of growth and water use efficiency to thinning in Mediterranean forests, but little is known about the potential benefits of silviculture for plantations under severe drought stress. We selected two stands of Pinus sylvestris L. and P. nigra Arnold., and used dendrochronology and carbon isotopes (δ13C) to understand the growth and functional responses of high-density planted pine forests to thinning in drought-prone areas. Resistance, recovery, and resilience indices were calculated for each species using BAI data. We expected heavy thinning to produce stands that were more resilient to drought, particularly for the more drought-tolerant P. nigra. Differences in the basal area increments (BAI) and intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) were found between the unthinned stand and the thinned stands, for both species. After thinning, BAI decreased as iWUE increased but this relationship was only marginally significant in P. sylvestris. Thinning increased growth resistance, recovery, and resilience following the severe drought of 2012. Our findings suggest that water shortage, linked to recurrent droughts, together with high tree competition, negatively affected tree growth and increased iWUE, which explains the dieback of some of these pine plantations. We evidence the vulnerability of densely planted Mediterranean pines to the forecasted warmer and drier conditions. These results show that a heavy thinning treatment (60% of basal area removed) provides a promising silvicultural framework for the adaptation of these drought-sensitive Mediterranean mountain pine forests to the potential risks of climate change.

Mitigation strategies for conserving bird diversity under climate change scenarios in Europe: The role of forest naturalization.

There are many possible strategies to promote naturalization in anthropogenic landscapes to mitigate global change effects. We combined large-scale databases available for continental Spain on: (1) distribution of breeding birds, (2) forest inventory stands, (3) land-use cover, (4) 18 global climate models recently developed at local scales, and (5) historical and genetically-based information on the distribution of natural versus planted pine forests, to analyze whether back to nature strategies may help to mitigate biodiversity loss due to climate change. We performed the analysis along environmental and ecological gradients of pine forests in Southern Europe. Models suggested that, naturalization strategies, in this case defined by the replacement of planted pine forests and eucalyptus forests by natural pine forests, could help to mitigate the expected loss of bird diversity due to climate change, but that mitigation efficiency will vary along environmental and ecological gradients. Maximum levels of diversity mitigation were predicted at intermediate levels of naturalization, with lower bird richness in areas where all pine forests were either planted or naturalized. Efficiency also varied spatially, given that both cold- and hot-spots of climate-driven bird diversity loss were identified. Transforming planted forest into natural forest is not a mitigation panacea, and additional regionally-adapted strategies may be identified to mitigate the expected biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems.

Water quality of springs in areas under different land uses in the southern highlands of Santa Catarina

This study sought to characterize the conditions of springs used for domestic consumption and to analyze their water quality. The springs are situated in catchment areas (drainage areas) with different soil uses in rural properties of the southern plateau of Santa Catarina, Brazil. To this end, 56 springs used to supply rural properties were selected in the counties of Lages, Otacílio Costa, São José do Cerrito, Painel, and Bocaina do Sul. The water catchment area of the springs were described in detail with regard to topography, management, forest, protection, fences, channels to contain runoff, and macroscopic aspects of water. In addition, the water was analyzed for total and fecal coliforms, pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, temperature, clarity, and nitrate and total phenol contents. The samplings for water analysis were performed in compliance with Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater (APHA). The above parameters were evaluated under the following soil uses in the drainage areas: native forest, native grassland, planted pine forest, and cropland. Data were analyzed by comparison of means by the Student's t test (p <0.05). More than 80% of the springs were found to be contaminated with fecal coliforms. The main risk factors for microbiological contamination in the region are extensive cattle ranching and the lack of adequate protection of the springs in most properties, with emphasis on the catchment areas of native grassland and native forest. Springs in pine forest areas have the lowest mean pH and the highest phenol content.

Umbrisols at Lower Altitudes, Case Study from Borská lowland (Slovakia)

AbstractUmbrisols generally develop in a cool and humid climate. Therefore, occurrence of these soils in the Borská lowland of southwestern Slovakia is very uncommon, and this inspired the aim of this paper: Analysis of the natural conditions suitable for Umbrisol development. Umbrisols in the Borská lowland developed from aeolian quartz sands accumulated on Neogenne marine clay sediments. Their occurrence is connected with the groundwater table relatively close to the ground surface and this particularly determines Umbrisol genesis in this area. Sufficient input via organic matter is an important factor for formation of the umbric horizon, and only the rich herbaceous undergrowth of the prevailing planted pine and mixed pine-oak forests is capable of providing it. A growth of diep-rooted grass is closely connected with higher soil moisture content, and quite moist areas occur in the deeper inter-dunes depressions. Constant soil moisture in these sites is facilitated by water capillary elevation. While Umbrisols are transformed to Arenosols at increased altitude, they can be transformed to Gleysols in deep depressions. Herein, induced polarization provided suitable geophysical method for detection of arenic Umbrisol inclusions. Sharp transformation of the humus layer to dry non-polarized aeolian quartz sands enabled the surface horizon to be distinguished by induced polarization

IMPACT OF ORGANIC FERTILIZER "DOSTATOK" ON THE SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF PINE PLANTATIONS

The survival and growth of pine plantations, created at the clear cuttings, with the use of organic fertilizer "Dostatok" are analyzed. The research was conducted in 11 forest units of the State Enterprise "Vyshche-Dubechna Forestry" in the fresh poor and rich forest sites. The plantations were created according to the following schemes: 4 rows of Scotch pine and 1 row of red oak with placement of seedlings 1.5×0.5 m and 1.5×1.0 m by planting them in a furrow formed by a plow PKL-70. The total forest pine plantations with application of fertilizer amounted to 22.2 hectares. The agrochemical analysis revealed that 40.6 % of organic matter was concentrated in the fertilizer, whereas in the organic layer of fresh poor and rich pine sites, the content of humus was 22.2 % and 30.7 % respectively. At the same time, fertilizer is characterized by a neutral environment, while the organic soil of fresh poor and rich pine sites has a very high acidity of the pH of the salt extract, which fluctuates within 3.5–3.6. The double predominance of the organic matter content in the fertilizer promotes the survival and growth of pine plantations. It was established that the introduction of fertilizer "Dostavok" in the form of tablets on the root system of pine seedlings increases the survival of forest plantations, which on sandy and sandy loam soils, respectively, reaches 90 and 95 %. Values of pH salt extraction indicate that the soils are very acid (3.5 and 3.1), with an average level of humus (2.4 and 7.4 %), low levels of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen and mobile phosphorus. Soil of fresh poor pine site has an elevated level of mobile potassium (139.87 mg·kg-1), while the fresh rich pine site is characterized by a low level of potassium, which is 46.39 mg·kg-1. Granulometric analysis of the soil showed that the poor sites are represented by sandy soils and rich sites – rough-dust sandy loam soils. Almost double the predominance of the organic matter content in the fertilizer "Dostatok" contributes to the survival and growth of pine plantations. The annual increment of pine seedlings on 4–7 cm was more than at the control. The use of bio-fertilizer also reduces the number of manual care and accelerates the closure in the rows, which in turn allows the transfer of forest crops to covered forest area a year earlier.

Influence of seasonal temperature on tree-ring δ13C in different-aged temperate pine forests

Tree growth rings from three specimens in two different aged (14- and 77-year old) white pine plantation forests were analyzed for stable carbon isotope ratios to identify both short- and long-term variations in physiological response to changing environmental conditions. Three isotopic (δ13Ccorr) time series records were constructed from whole wood samples extracted from paths parallel to the growth rings in each forest. These δ13Ccorr records were corrected for the long-term anthropogenically induced CO2 and compared to historical climate (temperature, precipitation) data from 1935 to 2016. High resolution inter-annual variations in trees in each stand displayed similar intra-annual cycles in δ13Ccorr, demonstrating the seasonal physiological response of these forests to environmental stressors. In both stands, growing season temperature acted as a significant control (p < 0.05) on δ13Ccorr values and hence carbon uptake through enhanced physiological discrimination against 13CO2. Wavelet transform methods applied to the carbon isotope composition extracted from tree-rings to investigate isotope-climate linkages revealed phase relationships linked to changes in stand structure and microclimate due to thinning treatment applied in the older stand in 1983. Cross wavelet transform (XWT) of mean annual temperature with latewood tree-ring isotope time series demonstrated a persistent 12- to 16-year phase-locked relationship, which suggests long-term temperature variations influenced stomatal conductance behavior in the post-thinning period (1983–2012). Overall, air temperature acted as a multi-year control on tree-ring carbon isotope compositions in these different-age forests and variations in δ13Ccorr time series provided a potential record of past temperature changes in the region.

Managing the Early Warning Systems of Invasive Species of Plants, Birds, and Mammals in Natural and Planted Pine Forests

Plantations with alien forest species could be a major way for invasive plant and animal species to become introduced and naturally established in a territory, but the sensitivity of plantations with native forest species to invasive plant and animal species is still unknown. This paper studies the probability of the presence and the richness of invasive species of three different taxa (plants, birds, and mammals) in pine forests of southwestern Europe. To do so, the relative contribution from natural and planted forests is analysed to explain the presence and the richness of invasive species in 3950 cells (10 km × 10 km) covering Spain after controlling for the possible effects of variables related to geography, climate, land use, landscape, and human pressure on the environment. Our results show that man’s influence on the establishment of invasive species is notable. However, those forests that are the most intensely managed by man, such as pine plantations with native species, seem less susceptible to the establishment and propagation of invasive species. Reasons may be found in those planted pine forests being closely monitored, controlled, and managed by man. Therefore, it is argued that efforts related to the early warning systems of invasive species should be focused on natural pine forests.

Trapping for Sirex Woodwasp in Brazilian Pine Plantations: Lure, Trap Type and Height of Deployment

The Sirex woodwasp, Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) is considered a secondary pest of pine in its native range but has caused considerable economic losses in pine plantation forests in the southern hemisphere. In Brazil, trap trees are the primary tool used for early detection purposes but these are costly, labor-intensive to install and require stressing trees by herbicide application. Flight intercept traps baited with synthetic blends of host volatiles are an attractive alternative but have performed poorly in some settings. This study was carried out to look for alternatives to trap trees for use in Brazilian pine plantations for early detection of S. noctilio. Four field experiments were conducted in two consecutive flight seasons (2015–16 and 2016–17), in planted loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands, to compare captures among flight intercept traps baited with different lures, deployed at different heights and among different intercept trap designs. Two experiments compared different host volatile lures and a significant treatment effect was observed in one. No effect of trap design or height was observed.

Plant, herbivore and parasitoid community composition in native Nothofagaceae forests vs. exotic pine plantations

Abstract Converting natural areas into land used for production causes dramatic changes in the configuration of landscapes. Both the loss and fragmentation of native habitats contribute to biodiversity loss world‐wide and the consequent creation of artificial edges can have a significant influence on community assembly. The conservation value of plantation forests has been identified for specific species, but it is not clear whether exotic pine plantations can also be used for the preservation of native communities in general. We studied whether community composition of different trophic levels (plants, herbivorous caterpillars, parasitoids) changed across native Nothofagaceae forests to exotic pine plantations, and whether habitat edges affected communities differently depending on the forest type considered. To accomplish this, we sampled plants, herbivorous caterpillars and parasitoids in native Nothofagaceae and exotic pine plantation forests and compared community composition of each trophic level across habitats. We found that community composition of plants, herbivorous caterpillars and parasitoids differed significantly between native and exotic plantation forests, and that variation in the composition of the upper trophic levels was strongly dependent on variation in the composition of the lower trophic level. Moreover, differences in community composition were mostly the result of species turnover, suggesting that plantations are complementary habitats for some species, but cannot be a substitute habitat for all native forest species. Furthermore, edge effects had a strong impact on the composition of native communities, such that certain species were only present in the interior of the native habitat. Synthesis and applications. Large areas of native vegetation, where the interior remains intact, are essential to preserve species that are susceptible to edge effects and that cannot occupy other habitat types. Creating straight instead of winding edges could decrease the impact that plantations have on native forests. Furthermore, increasing the representativeness of native plant communities in exotic plantation forests would cascade up to higher consumer trophic levels, considerably increasing the conservation value of these commercial stands.

Optimization Pine Plantation Forest Management in Kediri FMU Regional Division II East Java

Pine forest management today has not already reached its optimal state. The abnormal pine stand structure will cause a decrease in the production of pine resin. This study aimed to determine the optimal rotation of pine plantation forest and formulated the harvest scheduling to ensured optimal resin production. The determination of optimal rotation was conducted by modifying the Faustman formula to be applied on the condition in forest management in Perhutani. Simulation optimization of harvest scheduling was conducted by linear programming. Optimal rotation of pine forest plantation consists of timber rotation and resin rotation. The highest net present value of timber was obtained at 25 year cycles and the highest net present value of the resin was obtained at 35 year cycles. The inclusion of resin benefit was resulting in lengthening the optimal rotation age. The abnormal stand structure was causing the fluctuations of pine resin production. Thus, the efforts to improve it was by applying the harvest scheduling framework. This study concluded that harvest scheduling which conducted over eight periods has made the abnormal stand structure into the normal forest condition. The existence of normal forest condition led to the certainty of pine resin production sustainability.

Carbon, water and energy exchange dynamics of a young pine plantation forest during the initial fourteen years of growth

Abstract This study presents the energy, water, and carbon (C) flux dynamics of a young afforested temperate white pine (Pinus strobus L.) forest in southern Ontario, Canada during the initial fourteen years (2003–2016) of establishment. Energy fluxes, namely, net radiation (Rn), latent heat (LE), and sensible heat (H) flux increased over time, due to canopy development. Annual values of ground heat flux (G) peaked in 2007 and then gradually declined in response to canopy closure. The forest became a consistent C-sink only 5 years after establishment owing in part to low respiratory fluxes from the former agricultural, sandy soils with low residual soil organic matter. Mean annual values of gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration (RE), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) ranged from 494 to 1913, 515 to 1774 and −126 to 216 g C m−2 year−1 respectively, over the study period. Annual evapotranspiration (ET) values ranged from 328 to 429 mm year−1 over the same period. Water use efficiency (WUE) increased with stand age with a mean WUE value of 3.92 g C kg−1 H2O from 2008 to 2016. Multivariable linear regression analysis conducted using observed data suggested that the overall, C and water dynamics of the stand were primarily driven by radiation and temperature, both of which explained 77%, 48%, 28%, and 76% of the variability in GEP, RE, NEP, and ET, respectively. However, late summer droughts, which were prevalent in the region, reduced NEP. The reduction in NEP was enhanced when summer drought events were accompanied by increased heat such as those in 2005, 2012 and 2016. This study contributes to our understanding of the energy, water and C dynamics of afforested temperate conifer plantations and how these forests may respond to changing climate conditions during the crucial initial stage of their life cycle. Our findings also demonstrate the potential of pine plantation stands to sequester atmospheric CO2 in eastern North America.

Different winter soil respiration between two mid-temperate plantation forests

Abstract Larch and Chinese pine plantation forests are important carbon (C) sinks in the temperate regions, especially in China. However, their soil respiration in winter is still poorly studied. Here we explored the different microbial characteristics and winter soil respiration in larch and Chinese pine plantation forests in northeastern China, which has similar climate and basic soil characteristics. Results showed that both mean and cumulative winter soil CO2 fluxes were significantly higher in Chinese pine forest (0.45 µmol m−2 s−1 and 46.39 g C m−2, respectively) than in larch forest (0.25 µmol m−2 s−1 and 25.92 g C m−2, respectively). Snow depth and inorganic nitrogen (N) could not explain the differences in winter soil respiration between the two sites. Instead, Chinese pine forest had higher soil microbial biomass, fungi abundance, F/B (ratio of fungi to bacteria), and extracellular enzymatic activities (EEAs) than larch forest, which could lead to higher winter soil respiration in Chinese pine forest than in larch forest. Our findings indicated that the thermal insulation effect of litter cover was important to winter soil respiration, especially when the snow cover depth was less than 30 cm. Soil microbes played a more important role in soil respiration than soil nutrient status and should be carefully considered for better estimation of the C budget in different forest ecosystems. Although soil respiration was higher in Chinese pine forest, soil organic C content was also higher, suggesting its better C sequestration capacity than larch forest.

Mapping the height and spatial cover of features beneath the forest canopy at small-scales using airborne scanning discrete return Lidar

The objective of the current study was to develop methods for estimating the height and horizontal coverage of the forest understorey using airborne Lidar data in three managed pine plantation forest typical of the south eastern USA. The current project demonstrates a two-step approach applied automatically across a given study site extent. The first operation divided the study site extent into a regularly spaced grid (25 × 25 m) and identified the potential height range of the main Loblolly pine canopy layer for each grid-cell through aggregating Lidar return height measurements into a ‘stack’ of vertical height bins describing the frequency of returns by height. Once height bins were created, the resulting vertical distributions were smoothed with a regression curve line function and the main canopy vertical layer was identified through the detection of local maxima and minima. The second operation sub-divided the 25 × 25 m grid-cell into 1 × 1 m horizontal grid, for which height-bin stacks were created for each cell. Vertical features below the main canopy were then identified at this scale in the same manner as in the previous step, and classified as understorey features if they were lower in height than the 25 × 25 m estimate of the main canopy layer. The heights of the tallest understorey and sub-canopy layers were kept, and used to produce a rasterized map of the understorey layer height at the 1 × 1 m scale. Lidar derived estimates of the 25 × 25 m lowest vertical extent of the coniferous canopy correlated highly with field data (R2 0.87; RMSE 2.1 m). Estimates of understorey horizontal cover ranged from R2 0.80 to 0.90 (RMSE 6.6–11.7%), and maximum understorey layer height ranged from R2 0.69 to 0.80 (RMSE 1.6–3.4 m) for the three study sites. The automated method deployed within the current study proved sufficient in determining the presence and absence of vegetation and artificial structures within the understorey portion of the current forest context, in addition to height and horizontal cover to a reasonable accuracy. Issues were encountered within older stands (e.g. more than 30 years old) where understorey deciduous vegetation layers intersected with the coniferous canopy layer, resulting in an underestimation of sub-dominant heights.

Effects of stand age and soil properties on soil bacterial and fungal community composition in Chinese pine plantations on the Loess Plateau.

The effects of Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) on soil variables after afforestation have been established, but microbial community changes still need to be explored. Using high-throughput sequencing technology, we analyzed bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity in soils from three stands of different-aged, designated 12-year-old (PF1), 29-year-old (PF2), and 53-year-old (PF3), on a Chinese pine plantation and from a natural secondary forest (NSF) stand that was almost 80 years old. Abandoned farmland (BL) was also analyzed. Shannon index values of both bacterial and fungal community in PF1 were greater than those in PF2, PF3 and NSF. Proteobacteria had the lowest abundance in BL, and the abundance increased with stand age. The abundance of Actinobacteria was greater in BL and PF1 soils than those in other sites. Among fungal communities, the dominant taxa were Ascomycota in BL and PF1 and Basidiomycota in PF2, PF3 and NSF, which reflected the successional patterns of fungal communities during the development of Chinese pine plantations. Therefore, the diversity and dominant taxa of soil microbial community in stands 12 and 29 years of age appear to have undergone significant changes; afterward, the soil microbial community achieved a relatively stable state. Furthermore, the abundances of the most dominant bacterial and fungal communities correlated significantly with organic C, total N, C:N, available N, and available P, indicating the dependence of these microbes on soil nutrients. Overall, our findings suggest that the large changes in the soil microbial community structure of Chinese pine plantation forests may be attributed to the phyla present (e.g., Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota) which were affected by soil carbon and nutrients in the Loess Plateau.