Biomass and nutrient distribution of pinus koraiensis seedlings invading a mixed forest dominated by quercus mongolica

This study was conducted to estimate the biomass and nutrient distribution in understory P. koraiensis seedlings invading a mixed forest dominated by Quercus mongolica in central Korea. Total above and belowground biomass for the three overstory and understory dominant tree species were 2.70 t/ha for P. koraiensis, 210.56 t/ha for Q. mongolica, and 28.39 t/ha for Q. variabilis. P. koraiensis seedlings seemed to allocate more biomass to foliage (31.0% of total biomass) than overstory Quercus spp. (0.9%), so as to exploit the low light flux found in the shady conditions. Furthermore, the high specific leaf area of P. koraiensis seedlings indicated morphological characteristics of shade leaves in low light conditions. Total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents for P. koraiensis seedlings and Quercus spp. were 19.6 and 1.9 kg/ha, and 94.7–626.5 and 9.4–137.6 kg/ha, respectively. Our results suggested that understory P. koraiensis seedlings exerted only a minor influence on the biomass and nutrient distribution for the study forest.