Optimizing rotation lengths of major plantation species for improved wood production in southern China

Wood production is a major form of human land use with a heavy environmental footprint. An important strategy to limit this footprint is high-yielding tree plantations to reduce production in otherwise more extensive areas, which necessitates following optimal rotation lengths for plantation species that maximize their production volume. However, this requirement is often constrained by the lack of robust growth models. This barrier is particularly notable in southern China—a region with an extensive plantation estate that accounts for > 50 % of the country’s annual wood production. For many plantation species in this region, it remains unclear whether current rotation lengths are conducive to efficient wood production. Here we parameterized growth models for six most production-important species in southern China ( Cunninghamia lanceolata , Eucalyptus spp., Pinus massoniana , Castanopsis hystrix , Mytilaria laosensis , and Michelia macclurei ), based on an extensive empirical dataset compiled from 394 studies that distinguished between monospecific and mixed-species stands in which the trees were growing. From these models, we derived volume-optimal rotation lengths for each species to compare with its rotation lengths currently in use. We found that across our study species, trees exhibited faster growth in mixed-species stands over monospecific stands. For most species, their volume-optimal rotation lengths were substantially longer than those currently in use, suggesting that forestry policies should consider adopting or incentivizing longer rotations to improve production. However, for Eucalyptus spp.—an economically critical species group in the region—volume-optimal rotation lengths were shorter than those currently applied, underscoring the importance of species-specific management recommendations. • The rotation lengths for wood species specified in Chinese forestry guidelines have not been adequately studied. • Wood species exhibited faster growth in mixed-species stands than in monospecific stands. • Prescribed rotation lengths were overwhelmingly shorter than we derived as volume-optimal. • The volume-optimal rotation lengths of Eucalyptus spp. were shorter than those currently applied.