The bio-thermodynamic structures of a mixed native species plantation, a conifer plantation and an Acacia mangium plantation in Southern China were quantified over a period of 15 years based on eco-exergy methods. The efficiencies of structural development and maintenance were quantified through an integrated application of eco-exergy and emergy methods. The results showed that the storage of e...

Soil microbes are highly diverse and control most soil biogeochemical reactions. We examined how microbial functional genes and biogeochemical pools responded to the altered chemical inputs accompanying land use change. We examined paired native grasslands and adjacent Eucalyptus plantations (previously grassland) in Uruguay, a region that lacked forests before European settlement. Along with m...

The majority of Mycosphaerella species from eucalypts (Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora) in Australia have been recorded only from trees growing in plantations. This illustrates a bias in research in the past two decades toward commercial enterprise, and it emphasises a lack of understanding of the occurrence of these important fungi under natural conditions. Surveys of foliar fungi in native...

The succession of soil nematodes from initial planting with Pinus sylvestris seedling to about 30-year-old pine plantations on coal mining sands in the Lusatian lignite-mining district near Cottbus (Germany) was studied and compared with the nematode fauna of a 40-year-old semi-natural pine forest on naturally formed sandy soil. The initial stage was primarily characterised by a very low abunda...

An assessment of the oil palm plantation management and fruit supply, under the Indian contract-growers scheme was conducted in this study. Data was collected from about 96 plantations on the age of plantation, size of plantation, cost of establishment, maintenance practices and cost , yield of fresh fruit bunches, profitability of the scheme for the farmers and so on. It was observed that most...

Afforestation of agricultural lands has been one of the major land use changes in China in recent decades. To better understand the effect of such land use change on soil quality, we investigated selected soil physical, chemical and microbial properties (0-15 cm depth) in marginal agricultural land and a chronosequence of poplar (Populus euramericana cv. 'N3016') plantations (5-, 10-, 15- and 2...

Extensive forest conversion of the low-valued natural hardwood forest into coniferous plantations is the possible cause of the critical problem of squirrel debarking. The tree squirrel that causes the major damage is the red-bellied tree squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus). Conifers are more susceptible to the damage than are hardwood species, especially the exotics. Intermediate-aged plantation...

The potential expansion of freeze-tolerant (FT) Eucalyptus plantations in the United States has raised concerns about the implications for water resources. Modeling was used to examine the potential effects of expanding the distribution of FT Eucalyptus plantations in US Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 8b and greater on water yield (Q). Analyses focused on two scales: the stand ...

A major ice storm struck Georgia and the Carolinas in February of 2014, damaging or destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares of timber worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Losses were particularly severe in pine plantations in west-central South Carolina, including many on the Savannah River Site (SRS). An array of paired, mid-rotation loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and longleaf (Pinus palustr...

Conversion of tropical rainforests into plantations fundamentally alters ecological niches of animal species. Generalist predators such as centipedes (Chilopoda) may be able to persist in converted ecosystems due to their ability to adapt and switch to alternative prey populations. We investigated variations in community composition and trophic niches of soil and litter living centipedes in a r...