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Updated: Jun 15, 2025

Development of an Individual-Tree Basal Area Increment Model using a Linear Mixed-Effects Approach
Published on: July 3, 2020
Determinants of tree population temporal stability in a temperate mixed forest over a gradient of nitrogen addition
Zuoqiang Yuan1, Richard Osei2, Zikun Mao3
1Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Intelligent Monitoring and Protection, School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China.
Abstract:
Nitrogen (N) deposition is a significant threat to the functioning of forests and negatively impacts the delivery of forest goods and services. Contemporary management approaches seek to adapt forests to such N-deposition stressors, but to date how plant populations in natural forests respond to N deposition and what factors determine the contrasting responses among populations are still unclear. Here, we investigated the impact of N-addition (control: 0 kg ha-1 yr-1; low: 25 kg ha-1 yr-1; medium: 50 kg ha-1 yr-1; high: 75 kg ha-1 ha yr-1) on tree population temporal stability and how initial tree size, mycorrhizal type, and leaf N content (LNC; as a surrogate for functional trait composition) mediate tree population responses to N-addition in a Korean pine and mixed broadleaved dominated temperate forest in northern China. We quantified tree species population temporal stability as the ratio of mean to standard deviation of the year-by-year stem increments recorded in individual trees from 2015 to 2022 experimental period. The results showed different temporal stabilities of tree species among four N-addition levels, with the highest population stability observed within the high N-addition plots. Furthermore, initial tree size had significantly (p < 0.001) positive effects on population temporal stability. The effect of LNC and initial tree size were also contingent on the level of N applied. Specifically, increase in tree population LNC reduced population temporal stability in all plots where N was added. Our results imply that retention of large-sized trees and species with resource-conservative strategies (e.g., low LNC) could enhance forest stability under N deposition.
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