Summary:
Published in Reclamation and Revegetation Research 6: 33-48
Over 7 million seedlings of green alder (Alnus crispa (Ait.) Pursh), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and willow (Salix planifolia Pursh, Salix bebbiana Sarg.) were planted in borrow pits in the James Bay Territory of Québec between 1978 and 1984. From 1979 to 1984, the survival and the growth of trees, and the factors limiting tree growth were determined.
After three growing seasons, the survival rates of green alder, jack pine and willow were 90, 81 and 83%, respectively. At the end of the sixth growing season, the mean total above-ground biomass production of alder was 349 g tree-1. This value was 3.5 and 12.5 times higher than the production of jack pine and willow, respectively. The variation of growth parameters resulted mainly from climatic variations among study plots.
For green alder, phosphorus was the main nutrient limiting growth and dinitrogen fixation. Although magnesium deficiencies were more frequent than phosphorus deficiencies, its effects were less pronounced. AIder grew better on stony substrate than on sandy substrate.
The best sites for growth of jack pine had more than 0.14% organic carbon in the first 15 cm of substrate, were relatively rich in extractable cations (K, Ca and Mg), and had adequate water supply. Nitrogen, P and Mg showed different degrees of deficiencies, but nitrogen deficiency had the most pronounced effect on jack pine growth.
Willow grew better in the few plots with a substrate rich in organic carbon, but grew poorly in most other plots, being severely N-deficient.
Among the three tree species examined, green aIder appears to be well suited for the revegetation of impoverished sites due to its capacity for dinitrogen fixation, rapid early growth, high survival rate and high juvenile fruiting capacity.
Sector(s):
Forests
Catégorie(s):
Scientific Article
Theme(s):
Forestry Research, Forests, Silviculture
Departmental author(s):
Author(s):
PRÉGENT, Guy, Claude CAMIRÉ, J.-André FORTIN, Pierre ARSENAULT and Jean-Guy BROUILLETTE
Year of publication:
1987
Format:
Paper
How to get the publication:
Keyword(s):
biomass, borrow pit, climate deficiency, magnesium, nitrogen, nitrogen fixation, nutrition, phosphorus, revegetation, jack pine, green alder, silviculture of plantations, Alnus crispa, Pinus banksiana, sylviculture des plantations, aulne crispé, pin gris, biomasse, banc d'emprunt, climat, déficience minérale, magnésium, azote, fixation d'azote, nutrition, phosphore, plantations, silviculture and yield of plantations