Afforestation is a main tool for preventing desertification and soil erosion in arid and semiarid regions of Iran. Large-scale afforestation, however, has poorly understood consequences for the future ecosystems in the term of ecosystems protection. The objective of the present study is to identify changes in soil properties following different intervals of planting of Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven) in semiarid afforestation of Iran (Chitgar Forest Park, Tehran). For this purpose, sand, silt and clay ratios, bulk density, soil moisture, pH, electrical conductivity, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, total soil N, and total carbon was measured. Our study highlighted the potential of the invasive trees by A. altissima, to alter soil properties along chronosequence. Almost all soil quality attributes showed a declining trend with stand age. A continuous decline in soil quality indicated that the present land management may not be sustainable. Therefore, an improved management practice is imperative to sustain soil quality and maintain long-term productivity of plantation forests. Thinning activity will be required to reduce the number of trees competing for the same nutrients especially in a older stand to protect forest soils.

Objective: The influence of climate on forest stands cannot be ignored, but most of the previous forest stand growth models were constructed under the presumption of invariant climate and could not estimate the stand growth under climate change. The model was constructed to provide a theoretical basis for forest operators to take reasonable management measures for fir under the influence of climate. Methods: Based on the survey data of 638 cedar plantation plots in Hunan Province, the optimal base model was selected from four biologically significant alternative stand basal area models, and the significant climate factors without serious covariance were selected by multiple stepwise regression analysis. The optimal form of random effects was determined, and then a model with climatic effects was constructed for the cross-sectional growth of fir plantations. Results: Richards formula is the optimal form of the basic model of stand basal area growth. The coefficient of adjustment  was 0.8355; the average summer maximum temperature  and the water vapor loss  in Hargreaves climate affected the maximum and rate of fir stand stand growth respectively, and were negatively correlated with the stand growth. The adjusted coefficient of determination  of the fir stand area break model with climate effects was 0.8921, the root mean square error (RMSE) was 3.0792, and the mean relative error absolute value (MARE) was 9.9011; compared with the optimal base model,  improved by 6.77%, RMSE decreased by 19.04%, and MARE decreased by 15.95%. Conclusion: The construction of the stand cross-sectional area model with climate effects indicates that climate has a significant influence on stand growth, which supports the rationality of considering climate factors in the growth model, and it is important for the regional stand growth harvest and management of cedar while improving the accuracy and applicability of the model.