Simulating the effects of reforestation on a large catastrophic fire burned landscape in Northeastern China Xugao Wang a,c, * , Hong S. He b , Xiuzhen Li a , Yu Chang a , Yuanman Hu a , Chonggang Xu a,c , Rencang Bu a , Fuju Xie a,c a Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 417, Shenyang 110016, China b School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia c Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100039, China Received 20 May 2005; received in revised form 2 November 2005; accepted 16 December 2005 Abstract We use the LANDIS model to study the effects of planting intensity and spatial pattern of plantation on the abundance of three main species (larch (Larix gmelini), Mongolian Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris var. Mongolica), and white birch (Betula platyphylla)) in the Tuqiang Forest Bureau on the northern slopes of Great Hing’an Mountains after a catastrophic fire in 1987. Four levels of planting intensity (covering 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70% of the severely burned area) and two spatial patterns of plantation (dispersed planting and aggregated planting) were compared in a 4  2 factorial design over a 300-year period. The results showed that increasing planting intensity positively influenced larch and Mongolian Scotch pine abundance, but negatively influenced white birch abundance. However, the increased degree of larch abundance with increasing planting intensity was significantly different between intensities. The difference in larch abundance between the 10% planting intensity scenario and the 30% planting intensity scenario was greater than that between the 50% planting intensity scenario and the 70% planting intensity scenario. However, the difference between 30% and 50% planting intensity scenarios was significantly low. Hence, given considerable labor input and economic costs, 30% planting intensity would be effective for forest recovery. In addition, dispersed planting showed more promising results on forest recovery than aggregated planting. However, the difference of larch abundance between dispersed planting and aggregated planting under intermediate planting intensity scenarios (30% and 50% planting intensity) was greater than that under a low planting intensity scenario and a high planting intensity scenario. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate spatial pattern of plantation into planting practice, especially under an intermediate planting intensity scenario. These results have important implications for forest managers to design sound forest restoration projects for landscapes affected by large infrequent disturbances. In particular, the results suggest that the current planting strategy (50% planting intensity with aggregated planting) employed after the catastrophic fire in 1987 could not be optimum, and the dispersed planting strategy covering about 30% of the severely burned area would better stimulate forest recovery. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Great Hing’an Mountains; LANDIS; Planting intensity; Spatial pattern of plantation; Forest recovery 1. Introduction The deciduous and coniferous forests of the Great Hing’an Mountains in northeastern China provide the most timber of any forested area in the country; simultaneously, this area encompasses rather unique ecological and environmental systems in the region (Zhou, 1991; Xu, 1998). Human activities, particularly timber harvesting, have substantially altered the spatial pattern and ecological functions of these systems. Decades of fire suppression have reduced fire size, prolonged the fire return interval (i.e., the number of years between two successive fire events for a specific area), and indirectly influenced forest composition and dynamics (Shu et al., 1996). The success of fire suppression, coupled with a warmer, drier climate due to global warming (Xu, 1998), have led to a fuel buildup and resulted in fires of greater intensity and extent than those that occurred previously in the region. Catastrophic fires can have disastrous effects on forest composition and structure, ecosystem processes, and landscape pattern (Romme, 1982; Turner et al., 1997, 1999). On May 6, 1987, a catastrophic fire occurred on the northern slopes of Great Hing’an Mountains, burning a total area of 1.3  10 6 ha. www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco Forest Ecology and Management 225 (2006) 82–93 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 24 83970350; fax: +86 24 83970351. E-mail addresses: wxg_7980@163.com, wangxugao@hotmail.com (X. Wang). 0378-1127/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.12.029