Timber production assessment of a plantation forest: An integrated framework with field-based inventory,multi-source remote sensing data and forest management history

Timber production is the purpose for managing plantation forests, and its spatial and quantitative information is critical for advising management strategies. Previous studies have focused on growing stock volume (GSV), which represents the current potential of timber production, yet few studies have investigated historical process-harvested timber. This resulted in a gap in a synthetical ecosystem service assessment of timber production. In this paper, we established a Management Process–based Timber production (MPT) framework to integrate the current GSV and the harvested timber derived from historical logging regimes, trying to synthetically assess timber production for a historical period. In the MPT framework, age-class and current GSV determine the times of historical thinning and the corresponding harvested timber, by using a “space-for-time” substitution. The total timber production can be estimated by the historical harvested timber in each thinning and the current GSV. To test this MPT framework, an empirical study on a larch plantation (LP) with area of 43,946 ha was conducted in North China for a period from 1962 to 2010. Field-based inventory data was integrated with ALOS PALSAR (Advanced Land-Observing Satellite Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) and Landsat-8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) data for estimating the age-class and current GSV of LP. The random forest model with PALSAR backscatter intensity channels and OLI bands as input predictive variables yielded an accuracy of 67.9% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.59 for age-class classification. The regression model using PALSAR data produced a root mean square error (RMSE) of 36.5 m³ ha⁻¹. The total timber production of LP was estimated to be 7.27 × 10⁶ m³, with 4.87 × 10⁶ m³ in current GSV and 2.40 × 10⁶ m³ in harvested timber through historical thinning. The historical process-harvested timber accounts to 33.0% of the total timber production, which component has been neglected in the assessments for current status of plantation forests. Synthetically considering the RMSE for predictive GSV and misclassification of age-class, the error in timber production were supposed to range from −55.2 to 56.3 m³ ha⁻¹. The MPT framework can be used to assess timber production of other tree species at a larger spatial scale, providing crucial information for a better understanding of forest ecosystem service.     

阿勒泰西部树轮年表特征分析

通过对比阿勒泰西部5个标准化树轮宽度年表的多项年表特征参数,发现沙勒哈年表包含的气候信息较多,而柯姆年表所含的气候信息可能最少。通过年表间互相关系数的对比,发现2个位于森林上限的沙勒哈年表与哈纳斯南年表的相关最高（0.676）。而接近下树线森林边缘的哈纳斯北年表和柯姆年表的相关达0.586,却与3个位于森林上限的年表相关较低。通过相关普查得出,阿勒泰西部3个位于森林上限的年表与该区域当年6\_7月的月平均气温呈正相关,其相关系数最高为0.426,显著性水平达0.0035,与当年6\_8月的降水量呈负相关,其相关系数最高为-0.535,显著性水平达0.0002,而两个接近下树线森林边缘的年表与该区域当年1月的降水量呈正相关,其相关系数最高为0.45,显著水平达0.0019,且二者的相关具有明确的树木生理学意义。在0.10的显著性水平上,除吉克音年表外,其他4个年表均具有2.4 a的变化准周期。此外,吉克音年表和柯姆年表均存在13.5 a和14.4 a的变化准周期,哈纳斯南年表和沙勒哈年表均存在23.0 a和38.3 a的变化准周期。通过对比年表高低频信息含量,发现阿勒泰西部年表中高频信息含量一般高于低频信息含量。     

阿尔泰山南坡1821-2014年树轮汞浓度变化及其对气候的响应

研究汞的历史环境水平,对于认识人为汞的再排放和评估汞污染治理的有效性有重要意义。然而全球大气汞的监测站点和监测数据有限,因此需要利用代用资料来表征大气汞的长期变化。树木年轮是记录大气汞变化趋势的潜在优质档案。本研究建立了阿尔泰山南坡青河地区1821-2014年的树轮汞浓度变化序列,分析了气候对树轮汞浓度的影响,并从全球和区域角度探讨了汞浓度变化的原因。结果表明：1821—2014年青河地区平均树轮汞浓度为1.36±0.28 ng·g-1。相关分析显示树轮汞浓度变化与年平均最低气温（r=0.268, p<0.05, n=57）和平均水汽压（r=0.326, p<0.05, n=57）呈显著正相关,与平均2分钟风速呈显著负相关（r=-0.356, p<0.01, n=57）,表明气候可能会影响树木年轮中汞的积累。1820s—1980s树轮汞浓度呈缓慢上升趋势,在此期间出现1850s—1860s中后期和1980s中后期两个峰值。1990s—2000s初期树轮汞浓度相对平稳。自2000s中后期,树轮汞浓度逐渐下降,可能与各国相继实施空气污染控制法规有关。     

Interannual and seasonal variations in energy and carbon exchanges over the larch forests on the permafrost in northeastern Mongolia

The larch forests on the permafrost in northeastern Mongolia are located at the southern limit of the Siberian taiga forest, which is one of the key regions for evaluating climate change effects and responses of the forest to climate change. We conducted long-term monitoring of seasonal and interannual variations in hydrometeorological elements, energy, and carbon exchange in a larch forest (48°15′24′′N, 106°51′3′′E, altitude: 1338 m) in northeastern Mongolia from 2010 to 2012. The annual air temperature and precipitation ranged from −0.13 °C to −1.2 °C and from 230 mm to 317 mm. The permafrost was found at a depth of 3 m. The dominant component of the energy budget was the sensible heat flux (H) from October to May (H/available energy [R_a] = 0.46; latent heat flux [LE]/R_a = 0.15), while it was the LE from June to September (H/R_a = 0.28, LE/R_a = 0.52). The annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (RE) were −131 to −257 gC m⁻² y⁻¹, 681–703 gC m⁻² y⁻¹, and 423–571 gC m⁻² y⁻¹, respectively. There was a remarkable response of LE and NEE to both vapor pressure deficit and surface soil water content.     

阿尔泰山中部树轮宽度年表特征及其气候响应

利用阿尔泰山中部地区3个采样点的树轮宽度资料,建立年表,对比3个树轮宽度标准化年表（STD）相关特征参数及年表与气候的响应,结果表明：大东沟（DDG）年表和二道房子（EDF）年表的平均敏感度和信噪比等参数均较大,表明2个年表含有较丰富的气候信息。2个年表的显著性水平达到0.01的自相关大多在4阶以内,表明气候对阿尔泰山中部树轮宽度生长的影响主要表现在当年及其后的3 a,其＂滞后效应＂较明显。位于阿尔泰山中部森林中下部林缘的大东沟树轮宽度年表（DDG）与上年11月-当年4月的降水量有显著的正相关（r=0.503,p〈0.001）;而位于阿尔泰山中部森林上树线附近的哈依萨萨依树轮宽度年表（HYS）对当年6-7月的月平均最低气温有明显的正相关（r=0.462,p〈0.001）,但同时与当年1月的降水有很好的响应。     

大兴安岭北部多年冻土区落叶松和樟子松生长的气候响应差异研究

以大兴安岭北部根河、呼中和汗马冻土区落叶松和樟子松为样本,建立了五个树轮宽度年表,并计算获取了五个样点的树轮截面积指数（BAI）序列。树轮BAI-气候响应关系分析表明,气温为这一地区落叶松和樟子松生长的主要限制因子;但落叶松和樟子松对气候变化的响应存在差异。落叶松BAI与3月平均气温,樟子松BAI与前一年12月至当年4月平均气温均呈显著负相关。考虑到水热综合影响,落叶松BAI控制因子由1957-1990年与其呈显著正相关的1月份SPEI转变为1991-2013年与其呈显著正相关的1-4月SPEI和与其呈显著负相关的3月份平均气温;樟子松BAI控制因子则由1957-1990年与其呈显著负相关的2月和8月份平均气温转变为1991-2013年与其呈显著正相关的7月份降水量和6-7月SPEI。结果表明,在全球变暖背景下,水热环境改变使得冻土区树木生长限制因子发生变化。     

阿勒泰柯姆地区树轮宽度年表与灰度年表的建立

通过对比柯姆采点的8个标准化宽度和灰度树轮年表的多项特征参数,表明宽度年表在多项年表特征参数上均大大高于灰度年表。通过相关普查得出,标准化晚材灰度年表与当年7月至8月的降水量的相关系数最高,为0.426,显著性水平达0.001,而标准化早材灰度年表与上年12月至当年2月的月平均温度的相关系数最高,为0.362,显著性水平达0.02,且二者的相关具有明确的树木生理学意义。在0.10的显著性水平上,3个宽度年表均具有14a和3.4a左右的变化准周期,而5个灰度年表均存在2.2～2.4a的变化准周期。     

Tree-ring growth curves as sources of climatic information

Regional growth curves (RGCs) have been recently used to provide a new basis for removing nonclimatic trend from tree-ring data. Here we propose a different use for RGCs and explore their properties along two transects, one meridional and the other elevational. RGCs consisting of mean ring width plotted against cambial age were developed for larch samples from 34 sites along a meridional transect (55-72°N) in central Siberia, and for 24 sites on an elevational gradient (1120 and 2350 m a.s.l.) in Tuva and neighboring Mongolia at approximately 51°N. There are systematic gradients of the parameters of the RGCs, such as I₀-maximum tree-ring width near pith, and I_min, the asymptotic value of tree-ring width in old trees. They are smaller at higher latitude and elevation. Annual mean temperature and mean May-September temperature are highly correlated with latitude here, and hence RGC parameters are correlated with these climatic variables. Correlations with precipitation are more complex, and contradictory between meridional and elevational transects. The presence of a similar gradient in the elevational transect is consistent with temperature being the causal factor for both gradients, rather than, for example, latitude-dependent patterns of seasonal photoperiod change. Taking ring measurements from collections of relict and subfossil wood, the RGC-latitude and RGC-temperature relationships are used to estimate paleo-temperatures on centennial time scales. These estimates are consistent with earlier “traditional” dendroclimatic approaches, and with independent information on the northern extent of forest growth in the early mid-Holocene. It may be possible to use this same approach to make estimates of century-scale paleo-temperatures in other regions where abundant relict wood is present.