Study on Species Selection for Afforestation in Dry-hot Valley on the Upper Reaches of Jinshajiang River

A comparative planting experiment was carried out on the upper reaches of the Jingshajiang River with introduced tree species including Dalbergia sissoo, Cupressus lusitanica, Sabina chinensis, Acacia glauca, Albizzia kalkora, Acacia mearnsii, Leucaena leucocephala cv.Salvador., Cajanus cajan, Cupressus duclouxiana, in comparison to the local species Melia toosendan.The indexes of height growth, basal diameter and survival rate were examined. It was demonstrated by the results that Leucaena leucocephala cv.Salvador.grew well in the area lower than 1 400 m in elevation, Acacia glauca.grew well in area lower than 1 300 m in elevation, Dalbergia sissoo did not grow well even at the lowest part of the region below 1 160 m.It was showed by the experiment that 5 introduced tree species including Cupressus lusitanica, Sabina chinensis, Albizzia kalkora, Acacia mearnsii and Cajanus cajan, and the local species Melia toosendan grew normally below the elevation of 1 650m in Heqing dry-hot valley, showing good adaptability to local dry and hot climatic conditions.The results also showed that these tree species had better growth when planted on the lower parts of the slopes contrasting to the upper slopes because of the variations in temperature and soil conditions.