Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure ISSN:2288-8527(Online) 응용생태공학회 논문집

Willow plants are representative biomaterials used in river restoration and main target trees in stream managements. In order to understand the changes in the growth of Salix subfragilis and S. chaenomeloides with their stand ages, we investigated the density, height and basal area of stems and biomass at their different aged stands of the riparian zone of the sand-bed stream, the Nakdong River, Korea. We also developed allometric equations for estimating the biomass of these two species by establishing the relationship between diameter at breadth height and tree height with above-ground biomass. The stem density showed a sharp decrease for 3 years after germination for S. subfragilis and 6 years for S. chaenomeloides, resulting in strong self-thinning. The stem height of the two species increased to 7.5 m in 15 years for S. subfragilis, and to 14 m in 13 years for S. chaenomeloides. Aboveground biomass also increased rapidly at the early stage of growth. The biomass increased to 17 ton DM/ha in 13 years for S. subfragilis and to 1,110 ton DM / ha in 13 years for S. chaenomeloides. It is expected that the allometric equations of two Salix species derived from this study will be applied to the objectively estimating the biomass of willow plants for the management of floodplain trees in streams.