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First year performance and root egress of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.) seedlings in mechanically prepared and untreated planting sport in North Central British Columbia

University of British Columbia

Root zone temperature and root egress were studied during the first growing season on white spruce and lodgepole pine seedlings planted in various forms of mechanically prepared microsites. Mounded microsites had higher summer soil temperatures and greater diurnal ranges, at a depth of 10 cm, than the patch and control treatments. Mounded microsites, however, showed the greatest response to changes in weather and decreasing solar radiation inputs in the fall, being the first to record soil temperatures below freezing. Seedlings planted in the deep mineral soil over inverted humus mounds created by the Ministry Mounder had significantly greater numbers of new roots greater than 1 cm long than did seedlings planted in patch and control treatments at 45 and 70 days after planting. Seedlings planted in other mound and plowing treatments had high to intermediate numbers of new roots. At 95 days after planting, seedlings planted on all mounded treatments generally had higher root area indices, root dry weights and total dry weights than did seedlings on other treatments. Variation in treatment results over the three spruce sites studied reflect differences in site conditions, primarily soil moisture regimes. High and fluctuating water tables negatively affected seedlings planted in patch and control treatments.

Text

2010-08-13

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/27347

Forestry

University of British Columbia

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