Main work

Prof. Sun Honggang mainly engaged in research on intensive cultivation patterns for large-sized Chinese fir timber. After long-term research, the cultivation mechanism of large-sized Chinese fir stands had been broken out, and an intensive cultivation pattern for large-sized Chinese fir has been constructed, focusing on the bottleneck problems of unreasonable species structure and low operating income caused by the poor site conditions, high stand density, and short rotation period of artificial Chinese fir forests. He had successively led two Key Research and Development Projects for Chinese fir Plantations during the 13th and 14th Five Year Plans of Chia; Published 25 SCI journal papers; Obtained 3 national invention patents; Publish one monograph on Chinese Fir cultivation. The main research and innovation work is as follows:

• Revealed the important influencing factors of the species structure of Chinese fir and elucidated the formation mechanism of large-sized Chinese fir stands. It has been determined that site quality is the basis for the yield of large-sized Chinese fir stands, stand density is a key factor in regulating stand species structure, and stand age is a necessary condition for the formation of large-sized timber.

• Clarified the site effect, density effect, and rotation period effect of cultivating large-sized Chinese fir timber.Breaking through the autotrophic mechanism of soil phosphorus limitation in the mixed forest of Chinese fir and broad-leaved trees. A site maintenance system for large-sized Chinese fir has been proposed; Clarified the forest density effect of changes in timber structure and determined the density control mode of large-sized diameter of stands; Innovated the theory of rotation period evaluation for multi-objective cultivation of forest stands, and proposed a technology for determining the rotation period of large-sized timber that considers both quantity maturity and economic maturity. Breaking through the technology of predicting the yield of large-sized Chinese fir timber and constructing a intensive cultivation pattern for large-sized Chinese fir timber.

Key research projects

• Regulation of resin capacity responses to non-structural carbohydrates in Slash Pine 2015/01-2018/12 The General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

• Structural Management Techniques of Mixed Chinese Fir and Broad-leaved Forests 2021/12-2024/11 The National Key Research and Development Program of China

Published articles & books

• Wang Song, Han Yuanyuan, Wu Xiaoyu, Sun Honggang*. 2023. Metagenomics reveals the effects of glyphosate on soil microbial communities and functional profiles of C and P cycling in the competitive vegetation control process of Chinese fir plantation. Environmental Research, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.117162.

• Wang Song, Sun Honggang*, Edson Santos, Alvaro Soares. 2022. Soil microbial communities, soil nutrition, and seedling growth of a Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) plantation in response to three weed control methods. Plant and Soil, 480: 245-264.

• Sun Honggang, Diao Songfeng, Liu Ru, David Forrester, Alvaro Soares, Dai Saito, Ruxiang Dong, Jingmin Jianga. 2018. Relationship between size inequality and stand productivity is modified by self-thinning, age, site and planting density in Sassafras tzumu plantations in central China. Forest Ecology and Management, 422: 199-206.

• Zhang Guoyun, Zhang Xu, Yu Sujun, Sun Honggang. 2023. Novel insights on genes and pathways involved in Pinus elliottii response to resinosis. Tree Physiology, 43(2): 351-362.

• Sun Honggang*, Wu Sisheng, Wu Liwen. 2021. White oak (Quercus fabri Hance) regenerated stump sprouts show few senescence symptoms during 40 years of growth in a natural forest. Forest Ecosystems, 8(1): 11.

Other results

• Sun Honggang, Jiang Jingmin. Cultivation method for Dual-purpose forest of Pinus Elliottii Timber and Resin Tapping. Intellectual Property office of the Philippines Bureau of Patents 1/2019/000169