DOI: 10.5061/dryad.905qftthd
title: Data from: An environmental impact assessment of different management regimes in eucalypt plantations in southern China using Landscape Function Analysis

description: There are global concerns regarding the detrimental environmental impacts
 of industrial forest plantations developed over the past 30 years. To
 address this concern, the Landscape Function Analysis methodology was used
 to rapidly assess indices of soil stability, water infiltration, and
 nutrient cycling within eucalypt plantations at different growth stages
 and under different management regimes in Guangxi Province, China. Results
 showed that these plantations under both regimes were approaching an
 ecologically functional state by the time of harvest. However, within the
 plantation management that included the burning of post-harvest biomass
 residues, indices of water infiltration, and nutrient cycling were
 significantly lower than within the plantation that retained post-harvest
 residues. Indicators of rain splash protection, perennial vegetation
 cover, and litter accumulation were all lower in the plantation that
 practiced residue burning and pre-planting cultivation. Retention of
 post-harvest residues improves landscape functionality at the time of
 re-planting. Our results indicate that burning and extensive cultivation
 prior to re-planting should be minimized.
description: We compared landscape functionality
 under two different management regimes in Guangxi Province: post-harvest
 residue burning and extensive pre-planting cultivation near Dongmen
 (22.41N, 107.92E) compared to residue retention and minimal cultivation
 near Qinzhou (21.96N, 108.73E). Our research also examined whether there
 were any changes in landscape function within a full plantation cycle.
 Therefore plantations at the time of planting, mid-rotation stage and
 before harvesting were selected for assessment. The number of survey
 transects per plantation site and the number of sites per growth stage
 were based on local situations such as the size of the plantation unit and
 the uniformity of the landscape as shown in Table 1. The functionality of
 the plantation landscapes were assessed using the methodology of Tongway
 and Ludwig (2011) and field procedures described in detail in Tongway and
 Hindley (2004).  Slope-scale patchiness was
 quantified along a 50 m tape (transect) randomly positioned and orientated
 downslope. Patches and inter-patches were identified along each hillslope
 transect reflecting differences in vital resource availability and
 transport. A patch was defined as the area where resources (e.g. water and
 soil nutrients) accumulate while inter-patches were those areas where
 resources tend to be lost (leak) from the hillslope. Typical patches were
 areas of leaf litter cover or dense understory that developed in some
 sites by year three of the plantation rotation. Inter-patches were usually
 areas of bare soil. The cover length of each patch and inter-patch along
 the transect was recorded. The width of the patches at right angles to the
 transect was also recorded. To assess the fine-scale
 functionality of the plantation landscapes, three indices of functionality
 were determined along the transect: soil stability, nutrient cycling, and
 water infiltration. These indices represent the capacity of the
 soil-landscape to resist erosive forces from rainfall and run-off, to
 infiltrate rainfall into the soil, and to recycle organic matter and
 nutrients back into the soil (Tongway & Ludwig, 2011). Direct
 (i.e. laboratory) measures of these three indices have been shown to
 correlate well with this method of visual assessment (Eldridge &
 Freudenberger, 2005; Tongway & Hindley, 2003). These indices were
 derived from the visual assessment of 11 soil surface
 indicators  Soil surface assessments followed
 the field procedure described in Tongway and Hindley (2004). At each site,
 3-4 randomly transects were located and the width and length of each patch
 and inter-patch type were measured along the 50 m transect. Field data
 entry sheets were obtained from D. Tongway (http://members.iinet.net.au/~lfa_procedures/).