Biomass and nutrients of planted and naturally occurring Pinus koraiensis in Korea

Biomass and nutrients (mainly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) of Pinus koraiensis Sieb. et Zucc. were reviewed for plantations and naturally occurring stands in Korea. Slopes of allometric equations to estimate biomass were very similar for different locations while intercepts were different both for plantations and naturally occurring stands. Aboveground biomass ranged from 5.5 Mg/ha for the 7-year-old plantation to 339.9 Mg/ha for the 74-year-old plantation, and stem contained approximately more than 50% of aboveground biomass. In naturally occurring stands, seedling aboveground biomass ranged from 2.2 to 6.6. Mg/ha depending on locations, and the contribution of foliage to aboveground biomass was similar to or even sometimes higher than that of stem. Nitrogen and P contents in overstory aboveground vegetation significantly increased with plantation age. Foliage of P. koraiensis in naturally occurring stands contained 56-62% of N and 43-57% of P in total above- plus belowground nutrient contents. Total ecosystem N and P contents of P. koraiensis plantations ranged from 4180 kg/ha to 8990 kg/ha depending on age, and soils were the largest N and P pools. Nitrogen uptake and retention rapidly increased during the early growing stage due to biomass increase. As the precipitation passes through the canopy its chemistry changed significantly; throughfall and stemflow during the growing season were enriched in all cations and anions.