Factors that May Have a Bearing upon The Decline of Productivity Under Forest Monoculture

Abstract

Evidence of decline in productivity of plantation forests of Pinus radiata D. Don, in the second rotation presents an urgent and challenging problem to Australian forestry. In this paper the edaphic factors which could have some bearing on the problem are reviewed. The forest plantation is regarded as a simple ecosystem lacking many of the dynamic vegetational and soil biological processes which may help maintain within the natural community a long-term stability; an understanding of the significance of these processes in natural forests may help place the plantation problem in better perspective. Processes reviewed include the influence of species and species mixtures on soils, litter decomposition and nutrient return, and changes in the forest-soil microflora relationship.