Promotion Effects of Taxus chinensis var. mairei on Camptotheca acuminata Seedling Growth in Interplanting Mode

Wild Camptotheca acuminata Decne (C. acuminata) resources are becoming endangered and face poor growth. Preliminary investigation results found that the growth of C. acuminata in an artificial mixed forest of Taxus chinensis var. mairei (Lemee et Levl.), Cheng et L. K. Fu (T. chinensis var. mairei) and C. acuminata was significantly higher than that in pure forests. Understanding the reasons for the above differences can help create a mixed forest of T. chinensis var. mairei and C. acuminata to solve the problem of depleting C. acuminata resources. In this study, the growth and soil indexes under two different modes (C. acuminata/T. chinensis var. mairei interplanted and monocultured C. acuminata seedlings) were compared. The results showed that plant height, basal diameter, photosynthesis rate and chlorophyll content of C. acuminata under the interplanting mode were higher than those under monoculture. The growth rates of plant height and basal diameter that were calculated from interplanted specimens increased by 25% and 40%, respectively, compared with those from specimens that were monocultured. Photosynthetic rates from different light intensities under interplanting were higher than those in seedlings under monoculture. The contents of chlorophylls a and b and total chlorophyll under interplanting were 1.50, 1.59, and 1.47 times higher than those under monoculture, respectively. The numbers of bacteria and fungi in the interplanted culture were higher than those in the monoculture. Furthermore, the differences in microbial diversity under different planting modes were analyzed via the amplicon sequencing method. Soil enzyme activities increased under interplanting compared with that in the monoculture. Taxane allelochemicals were detected in the range of 0.01–0.67 μg/g in the interplanting mode from April to September. T. chinensis var. mairei may increase the establishment and productivity of C. acuminata seedlings under interplanting mode through improvements in enzyme activity, changes in microorganism population structure, and release of allelochemicals.