Alternative methods for sustainably managing coastal forests as silvo-pastoral systems
Integration of shelter forest and herbage into a silvo-pastoral system with sustainable management can improve the ecological and economic sustainability of shelter forest in coastal China. Sustainable management of tree density and forage grasses planting was studied by establishing five experiment...
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Published in | Ecological engineering Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 195 - 205 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Elsevier B.V
01.03.2006
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Integration of shelter forest and herbage into a silvo-pastoral system with sustainable management can improve the ecological and economic sustainability of shelter forest in coastal China. Sustainable management of tree density and forage grasses planting was studied by establishing five experimental treatments through selective logging of the forest. The tree density at the five treatments was 5.00, 2.50, 1.67, 1.25, and 1.00 ind./100
m
2, respectively. The density of 1.25 ind./100
m
2 (Treatment 4) is the best for introduced forage plants (
Sorghum sudanense,
Lolium multiflorum, and
Medicago sativa) and mature
Populus to integrate into a silvo-pastoral system, while the density of 1.00 ind./100
m
2 (Treatment 5) is the best for the native grass (
Setaria faberi and
Arthraxon pricnode) and mature
Populus. The planting experiment presented the best combination of planting practices (seed amount, planting depth, and fertilizer amount) for each introduced grass. The silvo-pastoral system has been run successfully for 3 years and has been very profitable for the local farmers. In the silvo-pastoral system, simple cultivation practices change the local dominant species of grasses. Furthermore, a new result is found about tree–grass interaction that change of tree density can alter species of forage plants under trees. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1 |
ISSN: | 0925-8574 1872-6992 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2005.09.009 |