Inverting Improves Establishment of Pinus Contorta and Picea Abies 10-year Results from a Site Preparation Trial in Northern Sweden

The effects on seedling survival and growth of a new scarification method, inverting, were evaluated over IO-yrs after planting lodgepole pine and Norway spruce on a 2-yr-old clear-cut in northern Sweden. Inverting, which provides planting spots containing humus turves covered in loose mineral soil without making mounds or ridges, was compared with ploughing, mounding, disc trenching, and no scarification. Subplots with high or low planting positions were used to assess small-scale topographical effects. For both species, the treatment ranking according to stem volume production after 10-yrs was inverting> ploughing> mounding= disc trenching> no scarification. Inverting improved seedling height growth by approximately 35% compared with mounding or disc trenching and by more than !00% compared with no scarification. High survival rates were also found following inverting, but only the no-scarification treatment resulted in a statistically significant reduction in survival rates (ca. 25%) for both species. Further development of the inverting technique might give environmental advantages compared with conventional mechanical site preparation. Key words: disc trenching, inverting, mechanical site preparation, mounding, Picea abies, Pinus contorta, plantation establishment, ploughing, soil temperature, soil water potential.

Download this file:

Download this file

Details

Author(s): G. Orlander, G. Hallsby, P. Gemmel, C. Wihelmsson

Section: Outplanting Performance

* This publication is copyrighted.