Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index
Soil fertility is an important component of forest ecosystems, yet evaluating soil fertility remains one of the least understood aspects of forest science. We hypothesized that the fertility rating (FR) used in the model 3-PG could be predicted from site index (SI) for loblolly pine in the southeast...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2015-08-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/6/9/3002 |
| _version_ | 1811242356972716032 |
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| author | Santosh Subedi Thomas R. Fox Randolph H. Wynne |
| author_facet | Santosh Subedi Thomas R. Fox Randolph H. Wynne |
| author_sort | Santosh Subedi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil fertility is an important component of forest ecosystems, yet evaluating soil fertility remains one of the least understood aspects of forest science. We hypothesized that the fertility rating (FR) used in the model 3-PG could be predicted from site index (SI) for loblolly pine in the southeastern US and then developed a method to predict FR from SI to test this hypothesis. Our results indicate that FR values derived from SI when used in 3-PG explain 89% of the variation in loblolly pine yield. The USDA SSURGO dataset contains SI values for loblolly pine for the major soil series in most of the counties in the southeastern US. The potential of using SI from SSURGO data to predict regional productivity of loblolly pine was assessed by comparing SI values from SSURGO with field inventory data in the study sites. When the 3-PG model was used with FR values derived using SI values from SSURGO database to predict loblolly pine productivity across the broader regions, the model provided realistic outputs of loblolly pine productivity. The results of this study show that FR values can be estimated from SI and used in 3-PG to predict loblolly pine productivity in the southeastern US. |
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-32ab473dae074581ad697dcf38c7a9c3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:50:12Z |
| publishDate | 2015-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-32ab473dae074581ad697dcf38c7a9c32022-12-22T03:30:33ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072015-08-01693002302710.3390/f6093002f6093002Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site IndexSantosh Subedi0Thomas R. Fox1Randolph H. Wynne2Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 228 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USADepartment of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 228 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USADepartment of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 228 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USASoil fertility is an important component of forest ecosystems, yet evaluating soil fertility remains one of the least understood aspects of forest science. We hypothesized that the fertility rating (FR) used in the model 3-PG could be predicted from site index (SI) for loblolly pine in the southeastern US and then developed a method to predict FR from SI to test this hypothesis. Our results indicate that FR values derived from SI when used in 3-PG explain 89% of the variation in loblolly pine yield. The USDA SSURGO dataset contains SI values for loblolly pine for the major soil series in most of the counties in the southeastern US. The potential of using SI from SSURGO data to predict regional productivity of loblolly pine was assessed by comparing SI values from SSURGO with field inventory data in the study sites. When the 3-PG model was used with FR values derived using SI values from SSURGO database to predict loblolly pine productivity across the broader regions, the model provided realistic outputs of loblolly pine productivity. The results of this study show that FR values can be estimated from SI and used in 3-PG to predict loblolly pine productivity in the southeastern US.http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/6/9/3002soil fertilityprocess-based modelsLAIregional productivity estimation |
| spellingShingle | Santosh Subedi Thomas R. Fox Randolph H. Wynne Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index Forests soil fertility process-based models LAI regional productivity estimation |
| title | Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index |
| title_full | Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index |
| title_fullStr | Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index |
| title_full_unstemmed | Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index |
| title_short | Determination of Fertility Rating (FR) in the 3-PG Model for Loblolly Pine Plantations in the Southeastern United States Based on Site Index |
| title_sort | determination of fertility rating fr in the 3 pg model for loblolly pine plantations in the southeastern united states based on site index |
| topic | soil fertility process-based models LAI regional productivity estimation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/6/9/3002 |
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