Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems
Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration following disturbances. Tree regeneration in subarctic ecosystems can, however, be constrained by limitations to seedling establishment related to cold soils, slow decomposition rates, and competition by ericaceous species. We established...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Forest Research |
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2017
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 2023-12-17T10:50:45+01:00 Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems Thiffault, Nelson Hébert, François 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 47, issue 7, page 926-934 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change journal-article 2017 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 2023-11-19T13:39:25Z Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration following disturbances. Tree regeneration in subarctic ecosystems can, however, be constrained by limitations to seedling establishment related to cold soils, slow decomposition rates, and competition by ericaceous species. We established a field trial at the northern limit of commercial forests in Québec, Canada, to evaluate to what extent mechanical site preparation (MSP) and planting of a nurse N 2 -fixing species could promote conifer establishment on a site burned in 2007. The experiment comprised four treatments applied in 2010: standard MSP (disc trenching), standard MSP plus planting of Alnus crispa, intensive MSP, with larger furrows than standard MSP, and a control. Main plots were divided and planted in 2011 with Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Stearns & Poggenb. or Pinus banksiana Lamb. We monitored seedling survival, growth, nutrition, and microsite over a 3-year period. Results revealed interactions between treatments and planted species. Mechanical site preparation resulted in higher conifer growth relative to the control conditions, and planting Alnus resulted in growth gains similar to those obtained from intensive MSP. We measured competitive interactions between Alnus and the conifers that might eventually cancel out the initial benefits derived from facilitation by planting the nurse species. Longer term monitoring of interspecific interactions is needed to unravel the mechanisms responsible for the facilitative effect and identify the best management practices. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canada Stearns ENVELOPE(162.817,162.817,-78.317,-78.317) Canadian Journal of Forest Research 47 7 926 934 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change Thiffault, Nelson Hébert, François Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
topic_facet |
Ecology Forestry Global and Planetary Change |
description |
Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration following disturbances. Tree regeneration in subarctic ecosystems can, however, be constrained by limitations to seedling establishment related to cold soils, slow decomposition rates, and competition by ericaceous species. We established a field trial at the northern limit of commercial forests in Québec, Canada, to evaluate to what extent mechanical site preparation (MSP) and planting of a nurse N 2 -fixing species could promote conifer establishment on a site burned in 2007. The experiment comprised four treatments applied in 2010: standard MSP (disc trenching), standard MSP plus planting of Alnus crispa, intensive MSP, with larger furrows than standard MSP, and a control. Main plots were divided and planted in 2011 with Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Stearns & Poggenb. or Pinus banksiana Lamb. We monitored seedling survival, growth, nutrition, and microsite over a 3-year period. Results revealed interactions between treatments and planted species. Mechanical site preparation resulted in higher conifer growth relative to the control conditions, and planting Alnus resulted in growth gains similar to those obtained from intensive MSP. We measured competitive interactions between Alnus and the conifers that might eventually cancel out the initial benefits derived from facilitation by planting the nurse species. Longer term monitoring of interspecific interactions is needed to unravel the mechanisms responsible for the facilitative effect and identify the best management practices. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thiffault, Nelson Hébert, François |
author_facet |
Thiffault, Nelson Hébert, François |
author_sort |
Thiffault, Nelson |
title |
Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
title_short |
Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
title_full |
Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
title_fullStr |
Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
title_sort |
mechanical site preparation and nurse plant facilitation for the restoration of subarctic forest ecosystems |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(162.817,162.817,-78.317,-78.317) |
geographic |
Canada Stearns |
geographic_facet |
Canada Stearns |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 47, issue 7, page 926-934 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
926 |
op_container_end_page |
934 |
_version_ |
1785575821289717760 |