Dynamic analysis of biodiversity, carbon storage and environmental factors of coniferous forest in Loudi City, Hunan Province

Abstract The analyzation of the dynamics of biodiversity, carbon storage and environmental factors of coniferous forest in Loudi, Hunan Province is meaningful, and the determination of the aboveground and underground carbon storage, plant diversity and environmental factors of multiple plant communities in Loudi, Hunan Province among different succession stage is of great significance to effectively clarify the distribution of plant diversity and carbon storage in coniferous forests along the succession gradient, to clarify the influence of environmental factors on carbon storage, and to quantify the relationship between carbon storage and plant diversity. This article selected the natural growth of subalpine coniferous forest in Loudi, Hunan Province from 5 to 60 years as the research objective and compared the species richness (S), plant diversity (S) and other information. The results showed that the carbon pools of aboveground and underground ecosystems of several plant communities are significantly different during vegetation restoration, and there is a functional relationship between plant diversity and carbon storage. The aboveground carbon content increased several times, and the soil organic carbon (SOC) content increased from the herbaceous community type to the mixed forest type, constituting the main carbon pool of the system (63–89%) and then decreased. The average carbon storage of the whole ecosystem was between 105 and 730 Mg C ha−1. In addition, it was also found that root biomass and litter C/N ratio had significant effects on SOC. Path analysis also showed that the C/N ratio of litter was mainly regulated by the changes of microbial population and soil invertase activity. The research of this project is of positive significance to deepen the understanding of coniferous forest biodiversity and corresponding conservation measures.