| 1. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Direct Application of Fertilizers and Hydrogel on the Establishment of Poplar Cuttings
- 2014
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 5, s. 2967-2979
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of poplar plantations is to achieve high biomass production over a short rotation period. This requires low mortality and fast development of the transplants. The experiment described in this paper examines methods aimed at enhancing survival and development of Populus trichocarpa plants by application of fertilizers, a hydrogel or a combination of both to dormant cuttings just before planting. The experiment was carried out at two agricultural sites with different soil characteristics, a loamy sand and a silty loam. It was demonstrated that none of the treatments influenced survival or early growth at the silty loam soil site, and plant development was delayed by the solid fertilizer. At the site with loamy sand, the solid fertilizer negatively affected both survival and early growth. Hydrogel and the combination of hydrogel and the solid fertilizer also hampered early growth. Overall, treatments of poplar cuttings with hydrogel or fertilizers alone, or in combination, may not be a method to reduce poplar cutting mortality or to enhance early plant development on agricultural land. However, our results demonstrate that establishing poplar with cuttings as transplants can be used on both loamy sand and silty loam soils.
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| 2. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Exploration of Optimal Agricultural Practices and Seedling Types for Establishing Poplar Plantations
- 2015
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 6, s. 2785-2798
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Controlling competing vegetation during early growth is one of the most important practices for the successful establishment of poplar plantations. Today, most poplar plantations in temperate regions are established on abandoned marginal agricultural land where competing vegetation is usually present during the first years after planting. Thus, the objective of this study was to examine how the growth of two kinds of poplar planting materials, un-rooted cuttings and bare-rooted seedlings was influenced by different vegetation control and soil preparation practices. Across treatments, un-rooted cuttings grew more rapidly than the bare-rooted seedlings. Our results also show that mulching with a degradable carpet or permanent polyethylene plastic increased seedling growth to a similar extent and more strongly in the cases of no treatment (in control plots). In addition, the results suggest that soil preparation in the mulched area favored seedling growth, but this effect was restricted to the first year after planting. These findings indicate that optimal practices for establishing poplar plantations on former agricultural land include planting un-rooted cuttings in prepared soil and mulching.
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| 3. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Growth response of hybrid aspen (Populus × wettsteinii) and Populus trichocarpa to different pH levels and nutrient availabilities
- 2016
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Ingår i: Canadian Journal of Forest Research. - : Canadian Science Publishing. - 0045-5067 .- 1208-6037. ; 46, s. 1367-1374
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Populus plantations are mainly established on agricultural land, but natural forests soils typically have lower pHs and nutrient contents. In this study, growth responses of two commonly used Populus genotypes, hybrid aspen (Populus x wettsteinii Hamet-Ahti) and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & A. Gray ex Hook.), were monitored in the greenhouse in relation of changes in pH and fertilizer levels in quartz sand and forest moraine soil. In quartz sand, changes in pH had no impact on growth or mortality of the two species. In forest soils, the lowest pH values, i.e., 3.5 and 4.0, caused plant mortality for P. trichocarpa but not for P. x wettsteinii. Growth optimum of P. trichocarpa occurred at a pH range of 5.5-6.5, whereas P. x wettsteinii showed a broader growth optimum at a pH range of 4.0-7.0. Fertilization expanded the pH range of optimum growth for P. trichocarpa but not for P. x wettsteinii. In both species, foliar content of nitrogen and potassium content increased after fertilization, whereas the foliar content of phosphorus was similar to unfertilized plants. Our results suggest that differences in tolerance to low pH values between P. x wettsteinii and P. trichocarpa might be connected to tolerance against aluminum. These findings may improve future establishment methods and identification of poplar genotypes suitable for forest land.
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| 4. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Growth response of hybrid poplars to different types and levels of vegetation control
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 30, s. 516-525
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poplar plantations established on agricultural or forest land can be adversely affected by abundant competing vegetation already present or that grows after planting. In this paper, we investigate how different intensities of manual vegetation control and mulching with polypropylene plastic effect poplar growth during the first two years after planting. Field data revealed that, during the first year, mulching with polypropylene plastic increased seedling growth more than manual vegetation control when performed over the same area. However, during the second year, these differences diminished and poplar seedlings continued to grow at the same rate irrespective of vegetation control. The difference in growth between treatments seems to be related to the fact that mulching positively influences water and nutrient availability to a greater extent that manual vegetation control during the early phase of establishment. Vegetation control also affected biomass allocation, with a relative increase in leaf biomass and decrease in stem biomass. The increase in leaf biomass associated with vegetation control was a result of both an increase in leaf number and increased leaf size.
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| 5. |
- Böhlenius, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of seedling type on early growth of poplar plantations on forest and agricultural land
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 31, s. 733-741
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Today, most poplar plantations in the temperate region are established on abandoned marginal agricultural land, but there is great potential for planting poplars on forest land as the available area is large and does not compete with food production. The objective of this study was to examine how different planting types (un-rooted cuttings, bare-rooted and containerized plants) affect the establishment and early growth of poplar plants on forest and agricultural sites. Our results suggest that on the agricultural site, survival and growth during the first two years are not influenced by plant type. However, at the forest sites, survival of rooted plants was superior compared to un-rooted cuttings. The height and biomass (stem and root) increment of bare-rooted plants was low; greater height and biomass growth was found for containerized plants. Container sizes had no effect on height growth, but leaf and stem biomasses were higher if the largest containers were used. When using the largest containers, concentrations of macronutrients (N, P) were increased compared to bare-rooted plants. Thus, these results suggest that practices for establishing poplar plantations of agricultural land include planting of un-rooted cutting, but on forest land, a plant grown in a container of 470ml should be used. Together, this can reduce the cost of establishment, increase the available area for poplar plantations and have an impact on poplar plantation economics in Sweden.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Drobyshev, Igor, et al.
(författare)
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Masting behaviour and dendrochronology of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in southern Sweden
- 2010
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-7042 .- 0378-1127. ; 259:11, s. 2160-2171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To identify weather controls of beech diameter growth and masting in southern Sweden, we analyze records of monthly weather, regional masting record, and tree-ring chronologies from five beech-dominated stands. The results indicate a strong weather control of temporal pattern of masting events in southern Sweden over the second half of the 20th century. Negative summer temperature anomaly 2 years prior to a mast year, coupled with positive temperature anomaly in the year immediately preceding the same mast year, is a characteristic weather pattern associated with known mast years. Strong dependence of beech masting behavior on temperature explains the high degree of regional synchronization of masting events. Growth of beech in southern Sweden is strongly and negatively correlated with previous year's summer temperature and positively - with previous year's October temperature. The present study does not provide a conclusive answer in identifying a full set of direct and indirect effects of climatic variables controlling tree-ring growth, since the negative effect of previous year's summer temperature may be a result of a temperature-controlled increase in the beech nut production in the current year. Consistent and significant negative departures of ring-width index during mast years support the hypothesis about a trade-off between investment of bioassimilates into production of beech nuts and tree-ring growth. Alternative explanation of growth anomalies in mast years, relating such anomaly to a negative impact of previous year's growing season, was not supported by the data. We found a limited effect of masting on diameter growth in the following years, indicating that decline in the overall wood production, associated with heavy masting, is short term and typically occurs in the year of actual masting. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Drössler, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Early development of pure and mixed tree species plantations in Snogeholm, southern Sweden
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 30, s. 304-316
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a lack of experimental studies comparing the forest production of mixed tree species stands and monocultures. As a case study, in 1994 an experiment was established in an afforestation landscape in southern Sweden with 66 plots: 18 planted with single tree species (including most native Swedish trees, plus Populus and Larix hybrids) and 48 with various non-replicated mixtures. Fifteen years after planting, stand growth did not differ significantly between the mixtures and the monocultures. However, the monocultures did exhibit a higher variation in growth levels relative to the moderate but comparatively consistent growth levels exhibited by the mixtures; particularly those comprised of more than two species. A specific analysis of mixtures containing either the tree species Picea abies or Quercus robur and their corresponding monocultures demonstrated the importance of the tree species admixed as a determinant of production outcomes early in the rotation. In the case of P. abies, tree species mixtures tended to reduce production, whereas in the case of Q. robur, mixtures tended to increase production. In addition no consistent differences in the mean height and mean diameter growth of P. abies and Q. robur between mixtures and monocultures were detected. A major conclusion is that adding more than two species did not increase stand volume growth.
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| 10. |
- Övergaard, Rolf, et al.
(författare)
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A Method for Natural Regeneration of Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) practised in Southern Sweden
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Sweden the most common way to regenerate beech forests is intensive natural regeneration combined with site preparation. However, the method has both economic and ecological drawbacks. On a large estate in southern Sweden a more non-intensive regeneration method is practised. Several catious cuttings regulate the forest floor conditions as well as the development of new seedlings originating from mast years occurring under a longer period. The aim of this study was to document this method and to study its regeneration dynamics. The seedling density recorded in the later phases of the regeneration period is considered to be sufficient for the development of new stands
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