Short-Term Effects of the Management Intensities on Structure Dynamic in Monoculture Forests of Southern Subtropical China:

Conversion from timber-dominated forestry to forest ecosystem management needs a rational management intensity to manage forest structure, which should be decided upon by managers and scientists as well as stakeholders. However, few studies have attempted to quantify optimal silvicultural measures for forest management intensity. Here, we examined the short-term effect of light and heavy management intensities on structure dynamics (tree composition, diversity, volumes and slenderness) in monoculture forests of southern subtropical China. Species diversity was generally lower in the heavy-intensity forests than in the light-intensity forests. The range in diameters was larger in the logged forest compared to control ones. The stand volume varied greatly between management intensities. Though higher trunk slenderness value (>80) indicates higher susceptibility to meteorological disturbance such as wind storm and heavy snow, trunk slenderness in the control and the heavy-intensity plots increased significan...