Studies On Structure Adjustment And Benefits Of Ecological Forest In Cixi Forest Farm

Cixi Forest Farm is located in subtropical. By the end of 2009, ecological forest had covered an area of 417.4h m2 in the farm. However, more problems should be faced to, e.g., much plantation forest and little natural forest, much pure forest and little mixed forest, much conifer forest and little broad leaf forest, much production and management and little ecological construction, quick cutting and slow growing. Therefore, transforming ecological forest and improving its quality is very urgent.Relative policies of ecological forest construction and achievement of forest types'structure adjustment are analyzed comprehensively in this paper, coming to a conclusion that constructing mixed forest is the most practical and effective way. It also describes studies of all types of mixed forest and evaluates the benefit of ecological forest.According to the historical and present situation of the forest structure in Cixi Forest Farm, methods and goals of transforming ecological forest are presented in this paper. The contents includes:(1) Partial transformation of masson pine forest as follows:Mixing masson pine with Chinese strawberry in the uphill block, mixing it with "schima×Chinese sweetgum" in the midhill block, mixing it with "camphor-tree×Chinese tuliptree" in the downhill block. (2)Transformation of inefficient economic forest and cultivated virgin land as follows:Transforming those into Chinese strawberry forest in uphill, transforming those into "schima×Chinese sweetgum" forest in midhill. (3) Adjustment of Chinese fir forest as follows:Planting some broad leaf trees which are strong shade-bearing plant among the young and half-mature Chinese fir. (4)Adjustment of management of bamboo forest as follows:Fertilizer will be reduced in forest of Phyllostachys pubescens. Phyllostacys praecox will be covered by environmental materials or cultivated in open ground to weaken influence to the water quality of the reservoir.The program aims at constructing efficient ecological forest with an area of 340.3h m2.Before transformation, Cixi Forest Farm plays an important role in storing water, preserving soil and water, increasing nutrient, purifying air and water and forest landscape, which can bring 3,300,000 RMB per year. After reconstructing ecological forest, it will yield economic returns of 3,519,000 RMB per year, which is 219,000 RMB more than that before reconstruction. Meanwhile, the new Chinese strawberry garden can bring 640,000 RMB per year. Therefore, the total economic return reaches 859,000 RMB more than that before reconstruction per year.The social benefits of the ecological forest transformation are introduced briefly in the paper.It is the most practical way to transform pure conifer forest into forest mixed with conifer and broad-leaf. There are a lot of researches and practices of masson pine mixed with schima, Chinese sweetgum, camphor-tree or Chinese tuliptree done before in our country. In order to get more benefits, the new method about masson pine mixed with two species of broad-leaf trees (including one species of evergreen and one species of deciduous tree) is proposed in the paper. It also has significance of guiding and reference for constructing ecological forest throughout the country.