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Aims <p>Forest thinning is pivotal in regulating forest ecosystem functions. Appropriate thinning intensity can enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. However, the extent to which a trade-off exists between plant- and microbe-derived SOC, and how this trade-off influences the stability of SOC storage, remains poorly understood.</p> Methods <p>In this study, the responses of soil carbon pools—specifically lignin-derived and microbial-residue-derived SOC—to different thinning intensities (light thinning at 15%, moderate thinning at 30%, and heavy thinning at 50%) were examined in a 14-year-old <i>Cunninghamia lanceolata</i> (Chinese fir) plantation.</p> Results <p>Moderate thinning (30%) yielded the highest contents of soil amino sugars (AS) and plant lignin (Lignin), while redundancy analysis (RDA) explained 87.7% of the variation in carbon sources. However, both plant- and microbe-derived SOC contents declined with increasing soil depth, reflecting the vertical stratification of carbon sources. Thinning-induced changes in total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), phosphorus (P), and bulk density (BD) strongly influenced the accumulation of these components. Moreover, structural equation modeling (SEM) identified phosphorus as a significant positive predictor of bound lipids (BL; 0.529, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), lignin (0.384, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and AS (0.210, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05), confirming that optimized thinning enhances SOC storage by improving soil fertility and structure.</p> Conclusions <p>This study provides novel evidence that moderate thinning can enhance soil fertility and promote carbon sequestration in Chinese fir plantations, offering important implications for supporting forest sustainability under global change scenarios.</p>

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Linking soil nutrients and carbon source composition to forest thinning intensity: evidence from a Chinese fir plantation

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月3日

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  • Zhihui Li,
  • Yifei Chen,
  • Youlu Hong,
  • Kexin Xue,
  • Tingting Li,
  • Minqian Zheng,
  • Hangsheng Wu,
  • Xiaoli Liao,
  • Shaofei Jin,
  • Dexiang Zheng

摘要

Aims

Forest thinning is pivotal in regulating forest ecosystem functions. Appropriate thinning intensity can enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. However, the extent to which a trade-off exists between plant- and microbe-derived SOC, and how this trade-off influences the stability of SOC storage, remains poorly understood.

Methods

In this study, the responses of soil carbon pools—specifically lignin-derived and microbial-residue-derived SOC—to different thinning intensities (light thinning at 15%, moderate thinning at 30%, and heavy thinning at 50%) were examined in a 14-year-old Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese fir) plantation.

Results

Moderate thinning (30%) yielded the highest contents of soil amino sugars (AS) and plant lignin (Lignin), while redundancy analysis (RDA) explained 87.7% of the variation in carbon sources. However, both plant- and microbe-derived SOC contents declined with increasing soil depth, reflecting the vertical stratification of carbon sources. Thinning-induced changes in total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), phosphorus (P), and bulk density (BD) strongly influenced the accumulation of these components. Moreover, structural equation modeling (SEM) identified phosphorus as a significant positive predictor of bound lipids (BL; 0.529, p < 0.001), lignin (0.384, p < 0.001), and AS (0.210, p < 0.05), confirming that optimized thinning enhances SOC storage by improving soil fertility and structure.

Conclusions

This study provides novel evidence that moderate thinning can enhance soil fertility and promote carbon sequestration in Chinese fir plantations, offering important implications for supporting forest sustainability under global change scenarios.