Effects of vegetation removal on soil properties and decomposer organisms

The removal of understory vegetation has been a common forest management practice, especially in plantations, but the effects of understory removal on soil physico-chemical properties and decomposer organisms is poorly known. In the present study, the effects of understory vegetation removal and removal of all-plants (i.e. removal of understory vegetation and trees) on soil properties and soil biota were measured in a plantation of mixed native tree species in southern China. During the wet season, understory vegetation removal did not cause significant changes on soil microbial community and major soil faunal groups except for a marked reduction in the density of herbivorous nematodes. However, all-plants removal significantly decreased the fungal biomass, the fungal:bacterial ratio, the density of herbivorous nematodes, the structure of the nematode community, and the density of mites, collembola and total microarthropods. In the dry season, understory vegetation removal resulted in a marked reduction in the density of total and herbivorous nematodes. The effects of plant removal on soil biota were similar to that in dry season. For both seasons, understory removal had no significant effects on soil physico-chemical properties (soil water content, pH, total nitrogen and soil organic carbon) but removal of all-plants significantly decreased soil pH. In general, the effects of understory vegetation removal on soil biota and other soil properties were much less severe than those of all-plants removal. The soil biota did not show significant response to understory removal, suggesting that this part of the vegetation may not be a major governing factor on such biota.

► Removal of all-plants significantly changed soil pH and biological properties.
► Removal of understory vegetation did not change soil physico-chemical properties.
► Understory removal showed some mild effects on soil organisms.
► Understory removal had different effects on different groups of soil organisms.
► Understory vegetation may not be a major governing factor on such biota.