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 a...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/77551 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfr-2016-0448 |
| Summary: | 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 QuĂŠbec, Canada, to evaluate how mechanical site preparation (MSP) and planting of a nurse N2-fixing species can promote conifer establishment on a site burned in 2007. The experiment comprised four treatments applied in 2010: standard MSP (disc trenching); standard MSP + 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 or Pinus banksiana. We monitored seedling survival, growth, nutrition and microsite after three years. 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 as 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 species. Longer-term monitoring of interspecific interactions are needed to further illuminate the mechanisms responsible for the facilitative effect and identify the best management practices. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
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