Tree Growth In Forests Research Articles

The Intersection of Non-Coding RNAs Contributes to Forest Trees' Response to Abiotic Stress.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play essential roles in plants by modulating the expression of genes at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level. In recent years, ncRNAs have been recognized as crucial regulators for growth and development in forest trees, and ncRNAs that respond to various abiotic stresses are now under intense study. In this review, we summarized recent advances in the understanding of abiotic stress-responsive microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in forest trees. Furthermore, we analyzed the intersection of miRNAs, and epigenetic modified ncRNAs of forest trees in response to abiotic stress. In particular, the abiotic stress-related lncRNA/circRNA–miRNA–mRNA regulatory network of forest trees was explored.

Sclerophyllous Forest Tree Growth Under the Influence of a Historic Megadrought in the Mediterranean Ecoregion of Chile

Sclerophyllous Forest Tree Growth Under the Influence of a Historic Megadrought in the Mediterranean Ecoregion of Chile

Long-term effects of prescribed fire on large tree growth in mixed conifer forests at Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

Prescribed fire in dry coniferous forests of the western U.S. is used to reduce fire hazards. How large, old trees respond to these treatments is an important management consideration. Growth is a key indicator of residual tree condition, which can be predictive of mortality and response to future disturbance. Using a combination of long-term plot records and dendrochronological samples, we analyzed the effects of prescribed fire treatments from the early 1990 s on forest structure and individual tree growth in mixed-conifer forests of Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. Prescribed fire reduced stand live tree basal area and stem density at our sites up to 10 years following fire. Within two prescribed fire burn units and two adjacent unburned stands, we analyzed tree cores from 136 large (mean stem diameter > 70 cm) yellow pine (Pinus jeffreyi and P. ponderosa) and 136 large (mean stem diameter > 50 cm) white fir (Abies concolor). After accounting for annual precipitation, basal area increment for individual trees initially declined up to < 3 years post-fire for white fir and > 10 years post-fire for yellow pine, presumably in response to tree injuries. Growth improved for both species at a site that was burned twice, particularly for white fir. Recent average basal area increment was positively related to crown ratio and negatively associated with an index of local competition. Our findings suggest that forest management, such as prescribed fire and mechanical thinning, may be beneficial in terms of maintaining or improving tree growth among large residual trees. However, managers may want to balance the benefits of these treatments against inadvertent injury and mortality of large trees.

Coppicing modulates physiological responses of sessile oak (Quercus petraea Matt. Lieb.) to drought

Droughts negatively affect tree vitality, growth and mortality in temperate forests. Appropriate forest management may help mitigate these adverse effects. One such silvicultural system is coppicing, which increases a stand’s drought resistance compared to high forests, but the underlying mechanisms are not well explored. Here, we aimed to deepen our mechanistic understanding of the performance of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) in response to drought stress. We compared mature trees, young coppice and seedlings. We measured seasonal variation of tree water status, photosynthesis, and biometric traits of sessile oak over three growing seasons. Coppicing increased water use and photosynthesis both under drought stress conditions and favorable conditions. During mild to severe drought, coppiced trees had better access to water and assimilated more carbon per unit of leaf area than seedlings and mature trees. The lowest predawn water potential of -4.21 MPa was recorded in seedlings, which was by 0.8 MPa less than in the coppice. Photosynthesis rates were highest in the coppice, but the water use efficiency of the coppice fell in between mature trees (higher WUEi) and seedlings (lower WUEi). Combined measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence and gas exchange suggested that coppice, seedlings and mature trees responded differently to drought. Coppice had the highest yield in light reactions of photosynthesis and the highest carbon assimilation. Coppicing improves the physiological vitality of young sprousts which makes it a suitable silvicultural system for dry sites.

Cell characteristics of Larix principis-rupprechtii on the edge of different stand types

To analyze the effects of forest edge on radial growth and cell characteristics in different stand types of Larix principis-rupprechtii, we investigated the differences on radial growth, cell size and numbers between edge trees and inner trees of L. principis-rupprechtii in pure L. principis-rupprechtii forests and mixed forests of L. principis-rupprechtii and Betula platyphylla in Saihanba mechanical forest farm, China. The results showed that radial growth of the edge trees was significantly faster than that of the inner trees in pure forests, with the total ring width, earlywood width and latewood width of edge trees being 48.9%, 58.9% and 29.6% higher than those of inner trees, respectively. However, there was no difference in radial growth between edge trees and inner trees in mixed forest. The total number of earlywood cells, the number of large cells and small cells in earlywood of edge trees were increased by 63.3%, 55.6% and 70.0%, while the total number of latewood cells, the number of large cells and small cells in latewood of edge trees were increased by 35.4%, 37.5% and 28.5% compared with those of inner trees. There was no significant difference in the cell sizes between edge trees and inner trees. The cell numbers of earlywood and latewood of edge trees were not significantly different from those of inner trees in mixed forest, but the cell size in the earlywood of edge trees was 50.0% larger than those of inner trees in mixed forest. The sizes of the largest cells, the smallest cells, the large cells and the small cells in the earlywood of edge trees were increased by 28.6%, 33.3%, 16.6% and 25.0% compared with those of inner trees, respectively. The fast growth of edge trees and slow growth of inner trees in the pure forests could be effectively alleviated by cultivating mixed forests.

Contributions of competition on Larix kaempferi tree-ring growth were higher than long-term climate in China

Forest tree growth plays an important role in forest ecosystem carbon cycle and carbon sequestration, and tree growth is affected by many factors. However, information on the contribution rate of different factors to tree growth is still limited. Thus, we hypothesized that increased regional competition has a significant negative impact on tree growth in plantations. In order to ascertain this hypothesis, tree-rings width for developing chronologies and competition data of the Larix kaempferi in Chinese plantations were sampled. Using tree-ring climatology method and non-linear models based on maximum likelihood analysis etc., the relationship between the tree-ring growth and competition index and climatic factors and their relative importance were evaluated in different years-interval and climate-zone. The results showed that the competitive effect for trees growth was always much stronger than the climatic or size effect. Competitive effects change over time, with drought effects (vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI)) on tree growth exacerbated. The significant negative effects of neighborhood competition gradually increased over time. Climate moderates competitive effects during stand development, especially the negative effects of drought index on trees. Trees decline in growth due to climate warming with temperature and precipitation changes, and mainly, increased competition. Overall, these results constitute important new information, which not only further deepens our understanding of important theoretical issues related to plantation tree growth, but also helps to formulate new guidelines to make larch plantations adapt to global changes. Therefore, thinning measures are valuable suggestions to change forest density can promote trees growth, it provides highly valuable information for estimating future forest dynamics and changes in carbon storage and carbon neutrality under climate change.

Jet stream position explains regional anomalies in European beech forest productivity and tree growth

The mechanistic pathways connecting ocean-atmosphere variability and terrestrial productivity are well-established theoretically, but remain challenging to quantify empirically. Such quantification will greatly improve the assessment and prediction of changes in terrestrial carbon sequestration in response to dynamically induced climatic extremes. The jet stream latitude (JSL) over the North Atlantic-European domain provides a synthetic and robust physical framework that integrates climate variability not accounted for by atmospheric circulation patterns alone. Surface climate impacts of north-south summer JSL displacements are not uniform across Europe, but rather create a northwestern-southeastern dipole in forest productivity and radial-growth anomalies. Summer JSL variability over the eastern North Atlantic-European domain (5-40E) exerts the strongest impact on European beech, inducing anomalies of up to 30% in modelled gross primary productivity and 50% in radial tree growth. The net effects of JSL movements on terrestrial carbon fluxes depend on forest density, carbon stocks, and productivity imbalances across biogeographic regions.

Increasing Liana Abundance and Associated Reductions in Tree Growth in Secondary Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest

Lianas are thought to be increasing and altering tree growth and ecosystem productivity in tropical forests, but less research has focused on secondary or seasonally dry tropical forest. We report on an 11-year study of tree growth and liana presence from Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where we measured the diameter growth and liana presence on more than 1,700 trees in regenerating forest of different ages. We find that the proportion of trees without lianas is decreasing and the number of trees with lianas occupying more than 10% of tree’s crowns is increasing. We also find that lianas are affecting the diameter growth of trees. The 11-year average relative growth rates of trees with lianas in more than 10% of the tree’s crown are lower than the relative growth of trees with no lianas or lianas in less than 10% of their crown. Year-to-year, tree relative growth rate is related to annual precipitation and tree diameter. However, trees that were heavily infested with lianas (i.e., with lianas in more than 50% of their crowns) had lower relative growth and a weaker precipitation-growth relationship. This work underscores the value of long-term longitudinal data in secondary forest and adds critical data on dry forest liana abundance change.

Relationship between the geographical environment and the forest carbon sink capacity in China based on an individual-tree growth-rate model

Forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, and the growth of forest trees is essential to forest carbon sinks. It is necessary to explore the diameter at breast height (DBH) growth of trees and to quantify the effects of different factors on their growth to predict forest development. This study constructed an individual-tree annual growth-rate model of 41 dominant tree species in China to explore the effects of genetic characteristics and the environment on tree growth and the relationship between forest carbon sink capacity and the geographical environment. The model was estimated and evaluated based on 492,555 samples of 7801 permanent plots (covering 31 provinces in mainland China) and then decomposed into a general annual growth-rate component and an environmental modifier component. The results showed that tree species and size were the dominant factors that affected the growth rate, showing an inverse J-curve trend, and temperature was the most important of all environmental factors. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the potential aboveground carbon sink (PACS) and the geographic growth pattern index (GPI) (Spearman’s = 0.445, p-value < 0.001) and a significant correlation between the geographic growth structure index PACS and the geographic growth structure index (GSI) (Spearman’s = 0.014, p-value < 0.001). Areas with high GPI and GSI may have better environmental conditions for tree growth, leading to higher PACS. In China, the GPI was higher in the southeastern regions than in the northwestern regions and was also higher in the more humid regions than in the dry regions, resulting in a higher PACS. In conclusion, in forest resource management and future afforestation planning, we should first consider the suitability of the geographical environment, and then take the topographical structure into consideration to determine the proportion of suitable tree species and forest structure.

Decoupling the impact of biodiversity and environmental factors on the biomass and biomass growth of trees in subtropical forests

Abstract The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has become a central issue in any forest ecosystem. However, there are few studies on the interaction of environmental factors based on the history of subtropical forest disturbance. In this study, we intended to disentangle the relationship between different aspects of biodiversity and biomass or biomass change when considering the environmental factors of 34 subtropical forest plots in Zhejiang Province, eastern China. We used linear models to analyze the effects of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity at the plot level of tree biomass and its growth with or without environmental factors. Taxonomic diversity and functional diversity, rather than phylogenetic diversity, showed significant correlations with biomass and biomass growth. We further found that there was a positive linear relationship between biomass or biomass growth and mean annual temperature and altitude. In addition, the relationship between biomass growth and functional diversity was significantly stronger than the relationship between biomass growth and phylogenetic diversity or taxonomic diversity when environmental factors and stand developmental stages were considered. Our results suggested that the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is dependent upon the selection of diversity index and environmental conditions.

Diversity and Seasonal Occurrence of Native and Nonnative Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Long-Term Experimental Chinese Privet (Lamiales: Oleaceae) Plots in Georgia, USA

Diversity and Seasonal Occurrence of Native and Nonnative Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Long-Term Experimental Chinese Privet (Lamiales: Oleaceae) Plots in Georgia, USA

Insect defoliation modulates influence of climate on the growth of tree species in the boreal mixed forests of eastern Canada.

Increasing air temperatures and changing precipitation patterns due to climate change can affect tree growth in boreal forests. Periodic insect outbreaks affect the growth trajectory of trees, making it difficult to quantify the climate signal in growth dynamics at scales longer than a year. We studied climate‐driven growth trends and the influence of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) outbreaks on these trends by analyzing the basal area increment (BAI) of 2058 trees of Abies balsamea (L.) Mill., Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, Thuja occidentalis L., Populus tremuloides Michx., and Betula papyrifera Marsh, which co‐occurs in the boreal mixedwood forests of western Quebec. We used a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) to analyze species‐specific trends in BAI dynamics from 1967 to 1991. The model relied on tree size, cambial age, degree of spruce budworm defoliation, and seasonal climatic variables. Overall, we observed a decreasing growth rate of the spruce budworm host species, A. balsamea and P. glauca between 1967 and 1991, and an increasing growth rate for the non‐host, P. tremuloides, B. papyrifera, and T. occidentalis. Our results suggest that insect outbreaks may offset growth increases resulting from a warmer climate. The observation warrants the inclusion of the spruce budworm defoliation into models predicting future forest productivity.

Effects of neighborhood interaction on tree growth in a temperate forest following selection harvesting

Selection harvesting is a common silvicultural practice in uneven-aged natural forests. Understanding the complex response of individual trees to forest harvesting is of great importance to clearly assess how forest ecosystems respond to future management. While tree growth dynamics following forest harvesting have been well documented at the stand level, at the individual level, how neighborhood interaction affects tree growth after forest harvesting has received little attention. Based on the data from four1-ha permanent forest plots with mapped trees and different harvesting intensities in Northeastern China, the effects of neighborhood interaction on tree growth of 1,108 focal trees were analyzed four years after forest harvesting. Neighborhood interaction was quantified by several indices, considering both crowding and biological dissimilarity (based on taxonomy, phylogeny, and functional traits) between neighboring trees. Additionally, we tested whether the effects of the neighborhood interaction on tree growth might differ across harvesting intensities. Our results found that selection harvesting significantly increased tree growth and biological dissimilarity but decreased crowding at the individual tree level. Focal tree growth decreased by 12.9%, 9.7%, and 7.9% as a result of neighborhood interaction based on taxonomic, phylogenetic, and multi-trait dissimilarity, respectively. Neighborhood interaction based on maximum height appeared to be the most important determinant of tree growth among the four traits examined (i.e., leaf dry mass per area; leaf nitrogen concentration; wood density; and maximum height), and its effect was much stronger than that of the multi-trait dissimilarity index. Moreover, among the neighborhood interaction indices, increasing neighborhood crowding reduced tree growth and there was a significant negative crowding effect at medium to high harvesting intensities (40%∼60% basal area removed) on tree growth. Our study expands our understanding of the relationship between neighborhood interaction and tree growth by identifying crowding and biological dissimilarity as important neighborhood indices for post-harvest tree growth.

Forest tree growth is linked to mycorrhizal fungal composition and function across Europe

Most trees form symbioses with ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) which influence access to growth-limiting soil resources. Mesocosm experiments repeatedly show that EMF species differentially affect plant development, yet whether these effects ripple up to influence the growth of entire forests remains unknown. Here we tested the effects of EMF composition and functional genes relative to variation in well-known drivers of tree growth by combining paired molecular EMF surveys with high-resolution forest inventory data across 15 European countries. We show that EMF composition was linked to a three-fold difference in tree growth rate even when controlling for the primary abiotic drivers of tree growth. Fast tree growth was associated with EMF communities harboring high inorganic but low organic nitrogen acquisition gene proportions and EMF which form contact versus medium-distance fringe exploration types. These findings suggest that EMF composition is a strong bio-indicator of underlying drivers of tree growth and/or that variation of forest EMF communities causes differences in tree growth. While it may be too early to assign causality or directionality, our study is one of the first to link fine-scale variation within a key component of the forest microbiome to ecosystem functioning at a continental scale.

Light conditions affect Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. functional traits in an Atlantic Forest, Southeast, Brazil

ABSTRACT Solar radiation is one of the aspects which most influence species composition, so light is a limiting factor to tree growth in forests. This study aimed to evaluate the leaf morphological variations between individuals of the Myrcia splendens (Sw.) DC. species under different light conditions in an urban forest. The fragment is characterized by having an open canopy area and an advanced regeneration stage in which branches of five individuals were collected, totaling 100 leaves. The traits evaluated were leaf area, fresh biomass, dry biomass, water content, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content. An analysis of variance showed that most of the morphological traits (dry biomass, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) varied significantly. Furthermore, variables such as dry biomass, water content and leaf area showed a high correlation with fresh biomass in both areas. The morphological variation found in M. splendens allows for creating growth and establishment strategies according to the environmental conditions.

不同坡向川西亚高山林木竞争与叶片表型可塑性的关系研究

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 不同坡向川西亚高山林木竞争与叶片表型可塑性的关系研究 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202009172425 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划项目（2017YFC0505003） Relationships between competition intensity and leaf phenotypic plasticity of woody plants in subalpine forests on different slope directions Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 2017YFC0505003 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:表型可塑性是植物生长响应外界环境变化的重要表现形式，体现了植物个体在环境胁迫下的适合度。但是关于植物表型可塑性的驱动机制仍然存在很多争议。为了探讨植物表型可塑性的影响因素，以四川省阿坝藏族羌族自治州位于同一海拔梯度但坡向相反的天然次生林为研究对象，分析了不同坡向竞争强度与10种树木叶片功能性状表型可塑性的关系的差异。研究发现：（1）研究样地中阴坡水分和养分资源优于阳坡；（2）阴坡上林木平均种内和种间竞争强度高于阳坡，阴坡上林木种内竞争强度随着树木个体大小的增加而显著性减少，阳坡上林木种内竞争强度却随着个体大小的增加而增加；（3）阴坡上叶片表型可塑性高于阳坡，表型可塑性随着个体大小的增加而增加，在阳坡上却随着个体大小增加而降低。这些结果表明阴坡上水分等资源环境条件优于阳坡，林木生长受到环境资源限制较少。在林木生长过程中，较高的竞争强度引起的资源重叠加剧，尤其是种内竞争强度的变化，从而导致了阴坡上较高的叶片表型可塑性。因为较高的竞争强度，随着林木个体大小的增加，树木需要更高的可塑性赢得竞争优势来获取更多的资源支持生长。但是在阳坡上，资源相对缺乏，环境资源对树木生长的限制降低了叶片表型的可塑性，因为环境资源的限制，随着树木个体大小的增加越容易受到资源限制的影响，因此阳坡上表型可塑性随着个体大小的增加而降低。研究说明，阴坡上叶片表型可塑性主要受到竞争强度的影响，而阳坡上则主要受环境资源的限制。 Abstract:Phenotypic plasticity is an indicator of the responses of plant growth and development to environmental changes, which reflects the fitness of plant individuals under environmental stress. However, the driving mechanism of plant phenotypic plasticity is still controversial. To explore the impacts of environmental conditions and competition on the phenotypic plasticity of leaf traits in trees, we surveyed two secondary forests with different slope directions in the Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan, China and analyzed the difference in the relationship between competition intensity and phenotypic plasticity of 10 tree species leaf functional traits between shade and sunny slopes. Results show that:(1) water and nutrient availabilities were greater on shade slope than those on sunny slope. (2) Mean intraspecific and interspecific competitions of tree species on shade slope were higher than those on sunny slope; intraspecific competition intensity decreased with the increases of individual tree size on shade slope, but it increased along with the increase of individual size on sunny slope. (3) The leaf traits include specific leaf area (SLA), leaf carbon content (C), leaf nitrogen content (N), leaf phosphorus content (P), leaf kalium content (K), leaf carbon-phosphorus ratio (CPR), leaf carbon-nitrogen ratio (CNR), and leaf nitrogen-phosphorus ratio (NPR). Phenotypic plasticity of all eight measured leaf traits on shade slope was higher than on sunny slope. Phenotypic plasticity of leaf traits increased with the increase of individual tree size on shade slope, but decreased with the increase of individual size on sunny slope. These findings suggest that the environmental resources of community on shade slope were greater than on sunny slope. The growth of forest trees was less restricted by the availability of environmental resources on shade slope, where higher competition intensity led to the intensification of resource overlap, especially the high intraspecific competition intensity, ultimately resulted in the higher phenotypic plasticity of leaf traits on shade slope. Because of higher competition intensity, with the increase of individual size, trees need higher phenotypic plasticity to gain competitive advantage and obtain more resources to support growth. However, because resources were relatively poor, the limitation of the availability of environmental resources reduced to the lower phenotypic plasticity of leave traits on sunny slope. Due to the limitation of the availability of environmental resources, with the increase of individual size, trees were more likely to suffer resource constraints. Therefore, phenotypic plasticity of leaf traits on sunny slope decreased with the increase of tree individual size. To summary, our study demonstrated that leaf phenotypic plasticity was mainly affected by competition intensity on the shade slope, while it was mainly limited by the availability of environmental resources on the sunny slope. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Positive Effects of Biochar on the Degraded Forest Soil and Tree Growth in China: A Systematic Review

Soil degradation threatens the forest sustainable productivity, particularly in afforestation system. Biochar derived from agroforestry waste or biomass can potentially improve the degraded forest soil and promote the tree growth. To expand the application of biochar for forestry productivity improvement, we here reviewed the effects and the underlying mechanisms of biochar on the degraded forest soil and tree growth. Totally 96 studies that conducted from pot to field investigations in China were summarized. The result suggested that biochar generally exerted positive effects on restoration of degraded forest soil such as that with compaction, acidification or soil erosion, which are mainly manifested by improving soil porosity, increasing pH, enhancing erosion resistance and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, biochar incorporation promoted the growth of tested trees in most cases, which effect was mainly attributing to directly supplying nutrients, improving soil physio-chemical properties, enhancing the root’s nutrient absorption capacity, and enlarging the living space. In summary, current studies demonstrate that biochar has a unique potential for improving degraded forest soils and promoting tree growth. However, investigations on the underlying mechanisms and the long-term effects should be strengthened.

Measuring tree growth using terrestrial laser scanning

Forests are dynamic ecosystems that are constantly changing. The most common natural reasons for change in forests are the growth and death of trees, as well as the damage occurring to them. Tree growth appears as an increment of its structural dimensions, such as stem diameter, height, and crown volume, which all affect the structure of a tree. Repeated measurements of tree characteristics enable observations of the respective increments indicating tree growth. According to current knowledge, the tree growth process follows the priority theory, where trees aim to achieve sufficient lightning conditions for the tree crown through primary growth, whereas increment in diameter results from the secondary growth. Tree growth is known to have an effect on the carbon sequestration potential of trees as well as on the quality of timber. To improve the understanding of the underlying cause–effect relations driving tree growth, methods to quantify structural changes in trees and forests are needed. The use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has emerged during the recent decade as an effective tool to determine attributes of individual trees. However, the capacity of TLS point cloud-based methods to measure tree growth remains unexplored. This thesis aimed at developing new methods to measure tree growth in boreal forest conditions by utilizing two-date TLS point clouds. The point clouds were also used to investigate how trees allocate their growth and how the stem form of trees develops, to deepen the understanding of tree growth processes under different conditions and over the life cycle of a tree. The capability of the developed methods was examined during a five- to nine-year monitoring period with two separate datasets consisting of 1315 trees in total. Study I demonstrated the feasibility of TLS point clouds for measuring tree growth in boreal forests. In studies II and III, an automated point cloud-based method was further developed and tested for measuring tree growth. The used method could detect trees from two-date point clouds, with the detected trees representing 84.5% of total basal area. In general, statistically significant changes in the examined attributes, such as diameter at breast height, tree height, stem volume, and logwood volume, were detected during the monitoring periods. Tree growth and stem volume allocation seemed to be more similar for trees growing in similar structural conditions. The findings obtained in this thesis demonstrate the capabilities of repeatedly acquired TLS point clouds to be used for measuring the growth of trees and for characterizing the structural changes in forests. This thesis showed that TLS point cloud-based methods can be used for enhancing the knowledge of how trees allocate their growth, and thus help discover the underlying reasons for processes driving changes in forests, which could generate benefits for ecological or silvicultural applications where information on tree growth and forest structural changes is needed.

Quantifying the Impact of Soil on Tree and Stand Growth in Semi-Natural Forests in Central Europe

Quantifying the Impact of Soil on Tree and Stand Growth in Semi-Natural Forests in Central Europe

Response of the Soil Microbial Community to the Long-Term Effects of Thinning and its Key Roles in Tree Growth in a Natural Secondary Forest in Northeast China

Response of the Soil Microbial Community to the Long-Term Effects of Thinning and its Key Roles in Tree Growth in a Natural Secondary Forest in Northeast China