Black spruce growth and survival in boreal open woodlands 10 years following mechanical site preparation and planting

Hébert, François; Boucher, Jean‐François; Walsh, Denis; Tremblay, Pascal; Côté, Damien; Lord, Daniel

doi:10.1093/forestry/cpt052

Cited by 27 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…action potential to increase productivity. As a result, plans to afforest dry northern woodlands with jack pine, known for its generally more rapid growth and higher resilience to fire compared with black spruce, may need to be considered with caution (Rapanoela et al 2015), even if preliminary studies have shown some early successes (Tremblay et al 2013;Hébert et al 2014;Côté et al 2014).…”

Section: Findings and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring forest productivity at an early age after fire: a case study at the northern limit of commercial forests in Quebec

et al. 2015

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Interest in northern forests is increasing worldwide for both timber production and climate change mitigation. Studies exploring forest productivity at an early age after fire and its determining factors are greatly needed. We studied forest productivity, defined as the combined quality of stocking and growth, of 116 10-to 30-year-old postfire sites. The sites were spread over a 90 000 km 2 area north of the Quebec commercial forestry limit and were dominated by Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. and Pinus banksiana Lamb. Seventy-two percent of our sites were classified as unproductive, mainly because of poor growth. Because growth was mostly determined by climatic factors, afforestation alone may not be sufficient to increase stand productivity in our study area. In addition, our results suggest that P. banksiana on dry sites may be less resilient to fire than previously thought, presumably because of poor site quality and climate. Overall, this is one of the first studies to explore productivity issues at an early age in natural northern forests, and the analysis scheme that defines forest productivity as the result of growth and stocking could provide a useful tool to identify similar issues elsewhere.Résumé : Avec l'intérêt croissant à travers le monde envers les forêts du nord tant pour la production de fibre que pour l'atténuation des changements climatiques, des travaux explorant la productivité forestière peu après le feu et les facteurs qui la déterminent sont requis. Nous avons étudié la productivité des forêts, définie en termes de qualité du coefficient de distribution (stocking) et de la croissance, dans 116 sites de 10-30 années après feu distribués dans une zone de 90 000 km 2 au nord de la limite d'attribution des forêts commerciales du Québec et dominé par Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P. et Pinus banksiana Lamb. Soixante-douze pour cent des sites ont été classés comme improductifs, principalement en raison de la faible croissance. Puisque la croissance est fortement liée à des facteurs climatiques, le boisement seul ne serait pas suffisant pour augmenter la productivité des peuplements dans notre zone d'étude. En outre, nos résultats montrent que P. banksiana sur des sites secs pourrait être moins résilient au feu qu'on ne le pensait, probablement à cause de mauvaises conditions de sites et du climat. Finalement, notre étude est l'une des premières à explorer les enjeux de productivité en bas âge dans les forêts naturelles du nord. Le schéma d'analyse proposé, en définissant la productivité des peuplements sur la base de la croissance et du coefficient de distribution, pourrait fournir un outil intéressant pour évaluer des problèmes similaires de manière précoce dans d'autres systèmes.

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Section: Findings and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring forest productivity at an early age after fire: a case study at the northern limit of commercial forests in Quebec

et al. 2015

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“…There can also be important logistic and economic constraints, mainly when the artificial regeneration has to be established in remote stands far from the seedling production areas. In the last decade, there has been increasing interest in the use of smaller and younger seedlings (Lindström et al 2005, Hébert et al 2014. Such a strategy has evident financial advantages during the production and planting process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Competition with the vegetation for light and soil resources can be an important constraint for small seedlings, which show reduced shoot growth during the initial phases after planting (Grossnickle 2000, Johansson et al 2007). However, the competitive disadvantage of small seedlings has only minimal effects at higher latitudes, where the vegetation is mainly composed of ericaceous shrubs and lichen mat (Hébert et al 2014). Small seedlings could require special precautions during the preparation and planting in the field, as they are expected to dry out faster than seedlings of conventional sizes because of their smaller root system (Lindström et al 2005, Johansson et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Size and age: intrinsic confounding factors affecting the responses to a water deficit in black spruce seedlings

Walsh¹,

Rossi²,

Lord³

2015

iForest

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“…(e.g., Prévost and Dumais 2003, Hébert et al 2014, Henneb et al 2015. Other studies have focused on the management of woody debris and their effects on seedling microenvironment (e.g., Trottier-Picard et al 2014) or the effect of planting depth on growth (Paquette et al 2011) and frost heaving (Sahlén and Goulet 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term effects of organic matter scalping on the growth and nutrition of black spruce and jack pine seedlings planted in the boreal forest

Thiffault¹

2016

The Forestry Chronicle

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Black spruce growth and survival in boreal open woodlands 10 years following mechanical site preparation and planting

Cited by 27 publications

References 35 publications

Exploring forest productivity at an early age after fire: a case study at the northern limit of commercial forests in Quebec

Exploring forest productivity at an early age after fire: a case study at the northern limit of commercial forests in Quebec

Size and age: intrinsic confounding factors affecting the responses to a water deficit in black spruce seedlings

Short-term effects of organic matter scalping on the growth and nutrition of black spruce and jack pine seedlings planted in the boreal forest

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