Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator?
Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration after disturbances. Low N availability and competition can, however, limit tree establishment in boreal ecosystems. To develop silviculture strategies that maintain productivity in such context, we established a field trial in northern Qu...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0064 https://doaj.org/article/07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 2023-05-15T18:28:29+02:00 Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? Morgane Urli Nelson Thiffault Daniel Houle Sylvie Gauthier Yves Bergeron 2021-03-01 https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0064 https://doaj.org/article/07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 en eng Canadian Science Publishing doi:10.1139/facets-2019-0064 2371-1671 https://doaj.org/article/07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 undefined FACETS, Vol 5, Pp 166-181 (2021) biotic interactions boreal forests n fixation nurse plant harsh subarctic ecosystem restoration plantations envir Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0064 2023-01-22T18:55:16Z Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration after disturbances. Low N availability and competition can, however, limit tree establishment in boreal ecosystems. To develop silviculture strategies that maintain productivity in such context, we established a field trial in northern Québec, Canada. We evaluated if a companion N2-fixing species (Alnus alnobetula) promotes or hinders Picea mariana and Pinus banksiana establishment over six growing seasons. We tested if Alnus has a facilitation effect through nutritional processes and a competition effect through light interception. Foliar stable nitrogen isotope ratio (δ15N = 15N/14N, ‰) results confirmed that Alnus obtains a substantial part of its N through biological fixation and represents an N source in this system. Although we did not observe increased foliar N concentrations in either conifer species in the presence of Alnus, Pinus growth was nonetheless higher in presence of Alnus, whereas no difference was observed for Picea. In the plots where Alnus cohabited with the conifers, the former had a negative impact on seedling growth, suggesting a significant competition for light. Overall, the net effect of Alnus was positive for Pinus and neutral for Picea. Our results have significant implications for silviculture in N-limited systems, especially in the context of climate change that imposes increased levels of stress on regeneration. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Unknown Canada FACETS 5 1 166 181 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
biotic interactions boreal forests n fixation nurse plant harsh subarctic ecosystem restoration plantations envir |
spellingShingle |
biotic interactions boreal forests n fixation nurse plant harsh subarctic ecosystem restoration plantations envir Morgane Urli Nelson Thiffault Daniel Houle Sylvie Gauthier Yves Bergeron Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
topic_facet |
biotic interactions boreal forests n fixation nurse plant harsh subarctic ecosystem restoration plantations envir |
description |
Sustainable forest management implies successful regeneration after disturbances. Low N availability and competition can, however, limit tree establishment in boreal ecosystems. To develop silviculture strategies that maintain productivity in such context, we established a field trial in northern Québec, Canada. We evaluated if a companion N2-fixing species (Alnus alnobetula) promotes or hinders Picea mariana and Pinus banksiana establishment over six growing seasons. We tested if Alnus has a facilitation effect through nutritional processes and a competition effect through light interception. Foliar stable nitrogen isotope ratio (δ15N = 15N/14N, ‰) results confirmed that Alnus obtains a substantial part of its N through biological fixation and represents an N source in this system. Although we did not observe increased foliar N concentrations in either conifer species in the presence of Alnus, Pinus growth was nonetheless higher in presence of Alnus, whereas no difference was observed for Picea. In the plots where Alnus cohabited with the conifers, the former had a negative impact on seedling growth, suggesting a significant competition for light. Overall, the net effect of Alnus was positive for Pinus and neutral for Picea. Our results have significant implications for silviculture in N-limited systems, especially in the context of climate change that imposes increased levels of stress on regeneration. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Morgane Urli Nelson Thiffault Daniel Houle Sylvie Gauthier Yves Bergeron |
author_facet |
Morgane Urli Nelson Thiffault Daniel Houle Sylvie Gauthier Yves Bergeron |
author_sort |
Morgane Urli |
title |
Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
title_short |
Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
title_full |
Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
title_fullStr |
Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
title_sort |
role of green alder in boreal conifer growth: competitor or facilitator? |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0064 https://doaj.org/article/07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
FACETS, Vol 5, Pp 166-181 (2021) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1139/facets-2019-0064 2371-1671 https://doaj.org/article/07c2b5094a0a4a6e9433ea179847d4b5 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2019-0064 |
container_title |
FACETS |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
166 |
op_container_end_page |
181 |
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1766210984971599872 |