Nitrogen (N) availability and mineralization are key parameters and transformation processes that impact plant growth and forest productivity. We hypothesized that suitable plantation spacing can lead to enhanced soil N mineralization and nitrification, which in turn promote tree growth. Studies were conducted to evaluate seasonal patterns of soil inorganic N pools as well as rates of nitrification and N mineralization of three soil layers under four tree spacing treatments. Results showed tree spacing significantly affected annual net N mineralization, whereas inorganic N content in surface soils was significantly affected by tree spacing only during the growing season. The total annual cumulative net N mineralization ranged from 80.3–136.0 mg·kg⁻¹ in the surface soils (0–20 cm), whereas the cumulative net N mineralization of 6 × 6 m and 4.5 × 8 m spacings was 65% and 24% higher than that of the 5 × 5 m, respectively. In general, tree spacing would affect N availability in soil by altering N mineralization rates, while high annual N mineralization was found in soils of low density plantations, with higher rates in square spacing than rectangular spacing. The obtained results suggest that suitable spacing could lead to enhanced N mineralization, but seasonal variation of soil N mineralization may not only be directly related to plantation productivity but also to understory vegetation productivity.

We evaluated the biomass and contents of five major macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) in 10-year-old poplar trees (Populus deltoids Bartr. cv. “Lux”), and determined their nutrient use efficiencies (NUEs) at Zhoushan Forestry Farm (32°20′ N, 119°40′ E), Jiangsu province, in eastern China. The above- and below-ground biomass of poplar trees was 161.7 t ha^-1, of which 53.3% was stemwood. The nutrient contents in the aboveground part were as follows: 415.1 kg N ha^-1, 29.7 kg P ha^-1, 352.0 kg K ha^-1, 1083.0 kg Ca ha^-1, and 89.8 kg Mg ha^-1. The highest nutrient contents were in stembark, followed by branches, roots, stemwood, and foliage. The NUEs of the aboveground parts of poplar for N, P, K, Ca and Mg were 0.313, 4.377, 0.369, 0.120, 1.448 t dry biomass kg^-1 nutrient, respectively, while those of stemwood were 1.294, 33.154, 1.253, 0.667, and 3.328 t dry biomass kg^-1, respectively. The cycling coefficients, defined as the percentage of annual nutrient return in annual nutrient uptake, of N, P, K, Ca and Mg for the aboveground part were 87, 95, 69, 92, and 84%, respectively. Based on the NUE and nutrient cycling characteristics, shifting from whole-tree harvesting to stemwood-only harvesting and appropriately extending the harvest rotation could prevent site deterioration and support sustainable productivity of poplar plantation systems.

Understory vegetation plays a crucial role in nutrient turnover and cycling in plantations, but it also competes for nutrients with crop trees when only a single species is present due to its specific nutrient requirements. However, it remains unclear whether this competition can be alleviated when the species richness of understory vegetation increases. In this study, we tested different gradients of understory vegetation species richness, including understory vegetation removal (UR), the retention of a single main understory vegetation species (RS), and the retention of natural diverse understory vegetation (RD) as part of a poplar (Populus deltoides ‘Nanlin-3804′) plantation, to study their effects on poplar growth, and to evaluate nitrogen (N) usage and how this was affected by the interactions between the poplar and understory vegetation. The results showed a generally lower periodic growth, and a significant decline in the foliar chlorophyll content and glutamine synthetase activity of poplar under treatment with RS and RD compared to those under UR treatment conducted in July 2019, which clearly indicated N competition between the understory vegetation and poplar trees. However, no significant difference was detected in the foliar chlorophyll content and glutamine synthetase activity of poplar under RD and RS treatment; only the nitrate reductase activity in poplar leaves under RD treatment declined significantly, by 22.25%, in June 2019. On the contrary, the diameter at breast height (DBH) of the poplar under RD treatment showed an increase of 34.69% from July to August 2019, compared with that under RS treatment. Furthermore, the increase in the species richness of understory vegetation resulted in an increase in the δ¹⁵N values in the poplar leaves, which was strongly regulated by the NH₄⁺-N pool in the 10–20 cm soil layer, indicating the effective coordination of N utilization between poplar and understory vegetation when diversified understory plant species were present. These findings demonstrate the essential role of understory vegetation species diversity in alleviating N competition with crop trees, and provide guidance for understory vegetation management in poplar plantations.

The main objective of this study was to compare the effects of two densities (278 stems·ha⁻¹ with two spacings of 6 m × 6 m or 4.5 m × 8 m, 400 stems·ha⁻¹ with two spacings of 5 m × 5 m or 3 m × 8 m) and three poplar clones (NL95, NL895, and NL797) on productivity and carbon (C) sequestration of poplar ecosystems. The results showed that planting density significantly affected the biomass of a single tree. The mean tree biomass of clone NL95 was higher in all spacings than that of the other clones, with a significant difference for the 6 m × 6 m spacing. The biomass of poplar trees ranged from 78.9 to 110.3 Mg·ha⁻¹, with the highest tree biomass observed in the square configuration. Soil C concentration (0–100 cm) increased after 12 years of management. Soil C storage ranged from 138.1 to 164.3 Mg C·ha⁻¹, and the highest soil C storage was in the NL797 poplar plantation with 6 m × 6 m spacing. Our results suggested that clones NL95 and NL797 should be chosen for planting, with a planting density of 278 stems·ha⁻¹ and spacing of 6 m × 6 m.