Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thinning on soil properties and seedproductivity in the 25-year-old Cryptomeria japonica and 30-year-old Chamaecyparis obtusa seed orchards in which thinning had been performed 4 years prior to the study. To this end, soil properties, cone and seed characteristics, seed production (kg/ha), and nutrient contents in seeds and cones were studied by 4 different thinning intensities (0, 20, 40, and 60%). Soil properties were not significantly different between the two orchards. Meanwhile, electric conductivity, total nitrogen, and K+concentration in the soil of C. obtusa seed orchard were significantly different among 4 different thinning intensities (p<0.05), while only Ca2+concentration in the C. japonica seed orchard was different (p<0.05). In the C. obtusa seed orchard, cone productivity increased with the increase of thinning intensities (p<0.05), whereas that in the C. japonica seed orchard did not show any significant differences. Both of the two seed orchards showed a tendency that seeds become bigger and heavier with the increase of thinning intensitproduction (kg/ha) in the C. obtusa seed orchard significantly increased with the increase of thinning intensities, while that of the C. japonica seed orchard decreased. Nutrient contents in seeds and cones did not show any significant differences among different thinning intensities in both of the two seed orchards.