TY  - JOUR
A1  - Röll, Alexander
A1  - Ramesha, Mundre N.
A1  - Link, Roman M.
A1  - Hertel, Dietrich
A1  - Schuldt, Bernhard
A1  - Patil, Shekhargouda L.
A1  - Hölscher, Dirk
T1  - Water availability controls the biomass increment of Melia dubia in South India
JF  - Forests
N2  - Farmland tree cultivation is considered an important option for enhancing wood production. In South India, the native leaf-deciduous tree species Melia dubia is popular for short-rotation plantations. Across a rainfall gradient from 420 to 2170 mm year\(^{–1}\), we studied 186 farmland woodlots between one and nine years in age. The objectives were to identify the main factors controlling aboveground biomass (AGB) and growth rates. A power-law growth model predicts an average stand-level AGB of 93.8 Mg ha\(^{–1}\) for nine-year-old woodlots. The resulting average annual AGB increment over the length of the rotation cycle is 10.4 Mg ha\(^{–1}\) year\(^{–1}\), which falls within the range reported for other tropical tree plantations. When expressing the parameters of the growth model as functions of management, climate and soil variables, it explains 65% of the variance in AGB. The results indicate that water availability is the main driver of the growth of M. dubia. Compared to the effects of water availability, the effects of soil nutrients are 26% to 60% smaller. We conclude that because of its high biomass accumulation rates in farm forestry, M. dubia is a promising candidate for short-rotation plantations in South India and beyond.
KW  - aboveground biomass
KW  - climatological water deficit
KW  - farm forestry
KW  - farmland woodlots
KW  - rainfall gradient
KW  - soil
KW  - wood production
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-250150
SN  - 1999-4907
VL  - 12
IS  - 12
ER  -