Roles of a Pine (Pinus kesiya) Plantation under the Doi Tung Reforestation Royal Project on Water Storages, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand

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Soontorn Khamyong
Samart Sumanochitraporn
Niwat Anongrak

Abstract

            A 22-year-old pine (Pinus kesiya Royle ex. Gorgen) plantation under the Doi Tung Reforestation Royal Project, Chiang Rai province, was investigated for the potential of water storages in plant biomass of pine and successional tree species, and soil system. Ten sampling plots, each of size 40×40 m2, were used for vegetation study. The plots were located randomly in areas of an altitude ranging from 953 to 1,444 m m.s.l. The stem girths at 1.30 m above ground (gbh) and tree heights of all pine and succession species of height >1.5 m were measured. The pine and succession species had the mean densities of 84.0+9.3 and 10.0+8.0 trees plot-1, respectively. The pine growths including stem gbh and height were evaluated to 112.29+19.46 cm and 28.3+2.5 m, respectively. The successional species in the ten plots varied between 2 and 13 species. The pine and successional species had the average biomass of 64.59+9.41 Mg plot-1 (403.70+58.80 Mg ha-1), and the average amount of water stored in biomass of 52.34+7.80 m3 plot-1 (327.10+48.77 m3 ha-1). Within 2 m soil depth, the maximum capacity of water storage was estimated at 1,763.67+8.44 m3 plot-1 (11,022.93+52.76 m3 ha-1). The water storage in rainy season (on 17thAugust 2013) was examined to be 1,411.36+9.89 m3 plot-1 (8,821.0+61.84 m3 ha-1, 80.02% of the maximum storage). As for the total water storage in the pine plantation (plant biomass and 2 m soil depth), the value was calculated to be 1,816.01 m3 plot-1 (11,350.06 m3 ha-1). In rainy season (on 17th August 2013), the total water storage reached to 1,463.70 m3 plot-1 (9,148.13 m3 ha-1, 80.60%). The water storage in plant biomass was small (3.58% of the total stand) and was the majority in soil (96.42%). Therefore, the pine plantation had the important role on water storage capacity that can reduce the streamflow and flooding. The successional species in the pine stand provided also some contributions to the water storage in biomass.


 


Keywords: Doi Tung Reforestation Royal Project, Pine plantation, Water storage

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How to Cite
Khamyong, S., Sumanochitraporn, S., & Anongrak, N. (2022). Roles of a Pine (Pinus kesiya) Plantation under the Doi Tung Reforestation Royal Project on Water Storages, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand. Thai Journal of Forestry, 33(3), 75–87. Retrieved from https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/tjf/article/view/255458
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Original Articles