Effect of soil base saturation and endomycorrhization on growth and nutrient status of sugar maple seedlings

Abstract

Nutrient imbalances of declining sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stands in southeastern Quebec have been associated partly with high soil exchangeable acidity and low base saturation on. A greenhouse experiment was set up to determine how growth and nutrient status of sugar maple seedlings can be influenced by soil acidification and the presence of an endomycorrhizal fungus. The experiment consisted of five levels of soil base saturation (from 12 to 50%) and two levels of soil inoculation by an endomycorrhizal fungus (inoculated and control) in a complete factorial arrangement Sugar maple seedlings were grown for 3 mo in the treated soil substrates. Seedling shoot elongation rate, growth [dry matter (TDM) mass, stem diameter, and total leaf area], and K, Ca and Mg concentrations in foliage and roots decreased with soil acidification with base saturation used as an indicator of the soil-acidification status. Foliar K and Ca level reached values below critical thresholds when soil base saturation was reduced to 12%. Under the experimental conditions, seedling growth was not significantly affected by endomycorrhization, except for root DM mass, which was reduced by 24% compared with the control treatment. For mycorrhizal seedlings, foliar Al concentration increased linearly from 113 mg kg−1 to 210 mg kg−1 with the reduction of soil base saturation from 50% to 12%, while, for non-mycorrhizal seedlings, foliar Al concentration remained at a high level (195 mg kg−1) independently of the soil acidification level. Sugar maple seedling growth was not related to accumulation of Al in foliage. The results of this experiment support the hypothesis that a causal relationship exists between the level of soil base saturation and the growth decrease and associated nutrient disorders observed in declining sugar maple stands in Quebec. Key words:Acer saccharum, nutrient status, seedling growth, soil base saturation, endomycorrhizae

Sugar maple and yellow birch regeneration in response to canopy opening, liming and vegetation control in a temperate deciduous forest of Quebec

“…Long et al, 1998), our application rate was within the range reported by Côté (1998), i.e., 400-800 kg/ha, and can be considered a moderate application of lime (<1500 kg/ha) as recommended by Pagé et al (1990). Sugar maple is a relatively nutrient-demanding species (Ouimet et al, 1996;Anderson et al, 2001) and the absence of liming effect, as observed in this study, suggests that calcium and magnesium were not limiting on the site. The high density of pre-established sugar maple seedlings on the site (almost 200,000 individuals ha −1 in the control) also suggests that soil properties were not limiting maple germination and establishment.…”

Assessment of sugar maple tree growth in relation to the partitioning of elements in xylem along a soil acidity gradient

“…It is in accordance with Duchesne et al (2002) who investigated sugar maple growth and similarly inferred that it was impaired by soil acidification, as well as with the various studies initially mentioned that related the decline of sugar maple forests with acidic depositions (McLaughlin et al, 1992;Ryan et al, 1994;Ouimet and Camiré, 1995;Ouimet et al, 1996;Watmough, 2002). It is also in agreement with the results from liming experiments (Long et al, 1997;Burke and Raynal, 1998;Moore et al, 2000;Wargo et al, 2002;Moore and Ouimet, 2006), or liming plus base cations fertilization (Wilmot et al, 1996), that resulted in improved maple growth and health.…”

“…trees in Eastern North America has been linked to atmospheric acidic deposition (McLaughlin et al, 1992;Ryan et al, 1994;Ouimet et al, 1996;Duchesne et al, 2002;Watmough, 2002), among other factors . This species was also shown to be sensitive to Al-induced Ca deficiency (Côté and Camiré, 1995;Long et al, 1997;Mohamed et al, 1997;McLaughlin, 1998;Watmough, 2002).…”

Determination and Mapping Critical Loads of Acidity and Exceedances for Upland Forest Soils in Eastern Canada

“…We determined the values of Bc/Al crit and K Gibb of equation 3 by applying relationship described in equation 8 to physico-chemical analyses of 1 800 soil samples from the Quebec Forest Monitoring Network (RESEF) (Périé and Ouimet 2003) and a number of experimentally acidified or alkalized forest soil samples (coming from a podzolic B horizon) that were incubated for three months in greenhouse conditions (see Ouimet et al (1996) for details on the experiment).…”