Growth Response to Weed Control and Fertilisation in Mid-Rotation Plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in South Sumatra, Indonesia
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript “Growth Response to Weed Control and Fertilisation in Mid-rotation Plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in South Suma3 tra, Indonesia” is well written. This can be considered worth publishing in journal “forest” after following modifications:
Abstract: Line 10 and 11, 'We report on a study of mid-rotation weed control and nutrient management in Eucalyptus pellita plantations in South Sumatra.' Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
Abstract: Line 14 and 15, "We found that the addition...". Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
Introduction: Paragraph 1: Line 30-36. Just 1 reference? at least 2 references in the paragraph. I suggest the author add on / cite 1 reference or more for sentence 34-36.
Introduction: Line 60: 'We set up an experiment....' Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
Introduction: Line 64: "Our aim was to understand..." Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
Material and Method: Please move Table 1 at line 78.
Section 2.3: Lin 109-119: Please avoid to write in point. Please write in sentences.
Equation 1: v =volume, F= factor, what is D and H? Please mention in the text.
Result: Figure 1: 1) Error bars are missing. Please add on. 2) Please rephrase the caption. "Eucalyptus pellita: volume loss due to less intensive weed control (up to age 1 year) com- 205 pared with more intensive weed control (up to harvest age) at Sodong (high productivity site) and 206 Lagan (low productivity site)' is not suitable for caption. Please rephrase.
Line 219 and 220: "At age 1.5 years, weed control significantly influenced growth at Toman (height, p < 0.001; diameter, p < 0.001 and volume, p < 0.001) and at Caban (height, p < 0.05; diameter,.." Please recheck the value, in Table 4 .
Author Response
Forests-1457260. Growth Response to Weed Control and Fertilisation in Mid-rotation Plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in South Sumatra, Indonesia.
Dear Editor,
We thank and appreciate for all comments and suggestions from the two reviewers for the improvement the manuscript. We have responded to all of them and have revised the manuscript to accommodate the comment. Our response to all two reviewers is written in red colour for easy validation.
If there is any more points to be clarified, please let us know.
Best regards
Inail, M.A.;
Hardiyanto, E.B.;
Mendham, D.S.;
Thaher, E
(Reviewer 1)
The manuscript “Growth Response to Weed Control and Fertilisation in Mid-rotation Plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in South Sumatra, Indonesia” is well written. This can be considered worth publishing in journal “forest” after following modifications:
Thank you.
Abstract: Line 10 and 11, 'We report on a study of mid-rotation weed control and nutrient management in Eucalyptus pellita plantations in South Sumatra.' Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
We acknowledge the reviewers point but prefer to keep the text in active rather than passive voice to give it clarity and directness. The text has not been modified.
Abstract: Line 14 and 15, "We found that the addition...". Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
We acknowledge the reviewers point but prefer to keep the text in active rather than passive voice to give it clarity and directness. The text has not been modified.
Introduction: Paragraph 1: Line 30-36. Just 1 reference? at least 2 references in the paragraph. I suggest the author add on / cite 1 reference or more for sentence 34-36.
Additional references have been added
Introduction: Line 60: 'We set up an experiment....' Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
We acknowledge the reviewers point but prefer to keep the text in active rather than passive voice to give it clarity and directness. The text has not been modified.
Introduction: Line 64: "Our aim was to understand..." Please avoid to use 'we' 'us'. Please rephrase the sentence.
We acknowledge the reviewers point but prefer to keep the text in active rather than passive voice to give it clarity and directness. The text has not been modified.
Material and Method: Please move Table 1 at line 78.
Table 1 didn’t fit at line 78 without going over the page, so we have retained it as is. The journal may be able to make it fit better in final typesetting.
Section 2.3: Lin 109-119: Please avoid to write in point. Please write in sentences.
Thank you for the suggestion. However, we do not agree with the suggestion as describing in point form makes it much easier for the reader to understand (and come back to) the treatment structure and future statistical analyses.
Equation 1: v =volume, F= factor, what is D and H? Please mention in the text.
D and H are already mentioned in the text, please see in line 150-151.
Result: Figure 1: 1) Error bars are missing. Please add on. 2) Please rephrase the caption. "Eucalyptus pellita: volume loss due to less intensive weed control (up to age 1 year) com- 205 pared with more intensive weed control (up to harvest age) at Sodong (high productivity site) and 206 Lagan (low productivity site)' is not suitable for caption. Please rephrase.
Error bars were provided. The caption has also been rephrased as suggested.
Line 219 and 220: "At age 1.5 years, weed control significantly influenced growth at Toman (height, p < 0.001; diameter, p < 0.001 and volume, p < 0.001) and at Caban (height, p < 0.05; diameter,.." Please recheck the value, in Table 4 .
Thank you for the correction. We have revised all. Please see in line 219, and line 223-224.
Reviewer 2 Report
This study tried to assess the effect of weed control and application of N & P Fertilizers in mid-rotation plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in Indonesia.The manuscript is written well and data presentation is clear.
My comments are as follow:
You may edit the starting statement of the abstract, suggestion:
Line 10-11: In this study, we investigate the mid-rotation weed control and nutrient management of Eucalyptus pellita plantations in South Sumatra.
Line 26: since in whole manuscript ypu are using fertiliser and fertilization instead of fertilizer and fertilization, you may use the same term in keywords
Line 36: Please add a reference to the end of paragraph 1.
Line 68:
2.1. Study Site
Line 96: Why 0-20cm and not 0-30 cm? You may add a sentence in M & M section to clarify
Line 382-391: Please make sure to answer the following questions in conclusion section:
What are the directions for the future?
What are the research gaps?
What is new to this article?
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Forests-1457260. Growth Response to Weed Control and Fertilisation in Mid-rotation Plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in South Sumatra, Indonesia.
Dear Editor,
We thank and appreciate for all comments and suggestions from the two reviewers for the improvement the manuscript. We have responded to all of them and have revised the manuscript to accommodate the comment. Our response to all two reviewers is written in red colour for easy validation.
If there is any more points to be clarified, please let us know.
Best regards
Inail, M.A.;
Hardiyanto, E.B.;
Mendham, D.S.;
Thaher, E
(Reviewer 2)
This study tried to assess the effect of weed control and application of N & P Fertilizers in mid-rotation plantations of Eucalyptus pellita in Indonesia.The manuscript is written well and data presentation is clear.
Thank you.
Line 10-11: In this study, we investigate the mid-rotation weed control and nutrient management of Eucalyptus pellita plantations in South Sumatra.
Line 26: since in whole manuscript ypu are using fertiliser and fertilization instead of fertilizer and fertilization, you may use the same term in keywords
We have changed ‘fertilization’ to ‘fertilisation’ in keywords.
Line 36: Please add a reference to the end of paragraph 1.
We added a reference as suggested.
Line 68:
2.1. Study Site
Line 96: Why 0-20cm and not 0-30 cm? You may add a sentence in M & M section to clarify.
We have added a sentence describing the method of soil sampling in M&M section. Soil sample in 0-20 cm depth was taken because most of the root biomass of Eucalyptus pellita was located at the soil upper layer similar to that of other Eucalyptus species. We considered that it is sufficient to describe soil properties from soil samples taken at 0-20 cm layer. We have now explained this more clearly in the text.
Line 382-391: Please make sure to answer the following questions in conclusion section:
What are the directions for the future?
What are the research gaps?
What is new to this article?
Thank you for the suggestions on how to improve the conclusions. We have modified the text to more clearly address these 3 points, including the addition of the following sentences in the text:
“Results of the study have practical implications for fertiliser and weed management strategies in E. pellita plantations in this region that may be adopted by plantation managers: P fertiliser application must be at establishment and cannot be delayed until mid-rotation at both high and low productivity sites to achieve optimal growth. Additionally, an effective weed management strategy differs between two sites where full weed control needs to be applied at low productivity sites throughout rotation to increase wood volume production, but at higher productivity sites, weed control after canopy closure does not need to be as rigorously applied as it does not significantly improve productivity. As the current E. pellita plantations were established on an ex-A. mangium sites, the N status is high, but the requirement for N fertiliser application in future rotations of E. pellita (a non-N-fixing species) remains unknown. N status and responsiveness of E. pellita needs to be monitored into the future.”
