scholarly journals Black spruce growth and survival in boreal open woodlands 10 years following mechanical site preparation and planting

2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Hebert ◽  
J.-F. Boucher ◽  
D. Walsh ◽  
P. Tremblay ◽  
D. Cote ◽  
...  
2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Rahman ◽  
M.G. Messina ◽  
R.F. Fisher

Abstract We investigated if intensive forest management could enhance loblolly pine seedling growth and survival on West Gulf flatwoods where winter and spring waterlogging and frequent summer drought limit loblolly pine performance. Fertilization, chemical vegetation control, and mechanical site preparation (combined bedding and ripping) were tested in different combinations on six sites established in southern Arkansas in early 1999. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedling performance was monitored in the first two growing seasons (1999 and 2000) and fifth growing season (2003) after planting. Fertilization increased growth in all years. Mechanical site preparation affected only height and only until year 2. There was no effect of chemical vegetation control in any measurement year, although chemical vegetation control resulted in greater growth in combination with fertilization than did either treatment applied separately. Tree survival averaged 92% a few months after planting and then decreased significantly at year 1 (77%), and remained comparable until year 5, the last year data were collected. Tree survival was not affected by mechanical site preparation, fertilization, or chemical vegetation control. Intensive forest management can increase loblolly pine seedling growth and survival on poorly drained sites in the West Gulf.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Henneb ◽  
Osvaldo Valeria ◽  
Nelson Thiffault ◽  
Nicole J. Fenton ◽  
Yves Bergeron

Low productivity caused by paludification in some parts of the closed black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P) dominated boreal forest threatens the provision of ecosystem services, including wood fiber production. The accumulation, over time, of organic matter in paludified soils leads to an anaerobic environment that reduces microbial activity, decelerates decomposition of organic matter, and generates nutrient-poor microsites for regeneration. Consequently, it results in significant impacts on site productivity. Considering its ability to disturb the soil, mechanical site preparation (MSP) is viewed as a potential treatment that can help restore productivity of paludified sites following harvesting. We conducted a field experiment to verify if (1) the availability of microsites conducive to reforestation varies with MSP, microtopography (slope and aspect) and initial OLT conditions; (2) the growth of planted seedlings depends on the intensity of mechanical disturbance of the organic layer, type of microsite, planting density, presence of Ericaceae, and the planting position and depth; (3) there are direct and indirect causal relationships between microsites availability after MSP, OLT, microtopography, planting quality and seedlings growth; and (4) if mechanical site preparation and microsite type exposed affect the Ericaceae cover after planting. Our results confirmed that MSP is effective in establishing conditions that permit a productive regeneration cohort on these paludified sites. To ensure successful establishment of plantations on these sites, it is necessary, however, to distinguish between those that are slightly or moderately paludified from those that are highly paludified, as treatment effectiveness of different MSP types depends on organic layer thickness. Our results also show that preference should be given to some microsite types as clay and mixed-substrate microsites for planting to ensure sufficient availability of water and nutrients for seedlings.


1990 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Minore ◽  
Howard G. Weatherly

Abstract The effects of five yarding-slash treatment combinations on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) growth and survival were compared by obtaining seedling heights, potential seedling heights, survival percentages, soil-penetration resistances, and the occurrence of visible soil-humus for 149 progeny-test plantations in western Oregon. Survival was not improved by mechanical site preparation, and seedlings grown on the compacted, low-humus soils associated with piling slash off site did not grow as tall during their first 5 years as seedlings growing on similar sites where slash had been broadcast-burned. Tilling (disking or ripping) did not benefit seedling height growth. West. J. Appl. For. 5(2):49-51, April 1990.


1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Knowe ◽  
Barry D. Shiver ◽  
William N. Kline

Abstract Height, diameter, volume, and survival response of 4-yr-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) was compared for chemical and mechanical site preparation treatments. Early-summer (June) and late-summer (September) treatments were installed in separate randomized complete block experiments. Either Tordon K© or Tordon 101© in combination with Garlon© and the three-pass mechanical treatments provided the best growth and survival in the early-summer study, but Tordon 101 + Garlon 4 was the most cost-effective. The Tordon K-Garlon combination, Roundup©, and the two-pass mechanical treatments provided the best growth and survival in the late-summer study, with Tordon K + Garlon 4 being the most cost-effective treatment tested in the late summer study. Models were developed to predict mean height, diameter, and volume per acre from age, sum of crown heights for dogwood, natural pines, red oak, and sweet-gum, and an indicator for total vegetation control. Cover of the herbaceous components was negatively correlated with hardwood density, and did not significantly improve predictions of pine response. South. J. Appl. For. 16(2):99-105.


2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1561-1570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad Sutherland ◽  
Fred F Foreman

The growth and development of outplanted black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) and competing vegetation five growing seasons after mechanical and chemical site preparation treatments are presented. The largest stem volume increase for black spruce coupled with the lowest vegetation indices for competing trees and shrubs were recorded on the treatment consisting of chemical site preparation with liquid hexazinone applied at 3.1 kg active ingredient (a.i.)·ha-1 followed by chemical tending in the second and fourth growing season with glyphosate applied at 1.78 kg a.i.·ha-1. Black spruce stem volume growth was second highest and the vegetation indices for competing trees and shrubs the highest, on plots treated with hexazinone site preparation. Among mechanical treatments, black spruce stem volume was highest on plots treated with mixed-mound site preparation. No other mechanical site-preparation treatment improved the growth of black spruce over boot-screef site preparation alone. The vegetation index of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) was reduced on mixed-mound and area-mixed site preparation treatments. The vegetation index of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) was reduced on area-mix and area- and strip-screef treatments. By the fifth growing season, site-preparation treatment had little effect on the comparative growth of grasses and forbs. High-speed strip-mixing with 80 cm wide strips spaced at 2-m centres, on deep, fertile, silty loams of Site Region 3W-Lake Nipigon, does not appear feasible as an alternative to chemical site preparation or conventional manual and mechanical site preparation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Michael Aust ◽  
James A. Burger ◽  
William H. McKee ◽  
Gregory A. Scheerer ◽  
Mark D. Tippett

Abstract Wet-weather harvesting operations on wet pine fiats can cause soil disturbances that may reduce long-term site productivity. Site preparation and fertilization are often recommended as ameliorative practices for such disturbances, but few studies have actually quantified their effects on restoration. The purposes of this study were to quantify the effects of wet-weather harvest traffic in designated skid trails on soil properties and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) growth, and to evaluate the ameliorative effects of site preparation. Study sites were established on wet pine flats of the lower Coastal Plain within the Francis Marion National Forest (Berkeley County, SC). Treatments were arranged in a split-split plot within a randomized complete block design. Treatments were two levels of traffic (nontrafficked, trafficked), four levels of mechanical site preparation (none, disking, bedding, disking + bedding), and two levels of fertilization (none, 337 kg /ha of 10-10-10 fertilizer). initially, the trafficking increased soil bulk densities and reduced soil water movement and subsequent growth of loblolly pine (years 1 and 2). Bedding combined with fertilization restored site productivity to non trafficked levels within 4 yr, but disking or fertilization treatments alone were not effective at ameliorating the traffic effects. The effectiveness of the bedding and fertilization treatments for amelioration of traffic effects was probably facilitated by the relatively small area of disturbed skid trails (<10%) found on these sites. Areas having more severe disturbance or higher percentages of disturbance might not be ameliorated as rapidly. South. J. Appl. For. 22(4):222-226.


Silva Fennica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noé Dumas ◽  
Mathieu Dassot ◽  
Jonathan Pitaud ◽  
Jérôme Piat ◽  
Lucie Arnaudet ◽  
...  

Mechanical site preparation methods that used tools mounted on lightweight excavators and that provided localised intensive preparation were tested in eight experimental sites across France where the vegetation was dominated either by (L.) Moench or (L.) Kuhn. Two lightweight tools (Deep Scarifier: DS; Deep Scarifier followed by Multifunction Subsoiler: DS+MS) were tested in pine ( L., var. (Loudon) Hyl. or Aiton) and oak ( (Matt.) Liebl. or  L.) plantations. Regional methods commonly used locally (herbicide, disk harrow, mouldboard plow) and experimental methods (repeated herbicide application; untreated control) were used as references in the experiments. Neighbouring vegetation cover, seedling survival, height and basal diameter were assessed over three to five years after plantation. For pines growing in , seedling diameter after four years was 37% and 98% greater in DS and DS+MS, respectively, than in the untreated control. For pines growing in , it was 62% and 107% greater in the same treatments. For oak, diameter was only 4% and 15% greater in , and 13% and 25% greater in , in the same treatments. For pines, the survival rate after four years was 26% and 32% higher in and 64% and 70% higher in , in the same treatments. For oak, it was 3% and 29% higher in and 37% and 31% higher in . Herbicide, when applied for three or four years after planting, provided the best growth performances for pines growing in and and for oaks growing in . For these species and site combinations, DS+MS and DS treatments reduced the neighbouring vegetation cover for one to four years following site preparation.Molinia caeruleaPteridium aquilinumPinus sylvestrisPinus nigracorsicanaPinus pinasterQuercus petraeaQuercus roburM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caeruleaP. aquilinumM. caerulea P. aquilinumP. aquilinum


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