Influence of weed composition, abundance, and spatial proximity on growth in young hybrid poplar plantations

Henkel-Johnson, David; Macdonald, S. Ellen; Bork, Edward W.; Thomas, Barb R.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.11.010

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Herbicide applications occurred using a boom-spraying before and after planting (Table 1), consistent with businessas-usual silvicultural practices for plantation establishment of all Al-Pac operational fields (Henkel-Johnson et al 2016). Similarly, discing of soil was done prior to planting and occurred again between tree rows at approximately monthly intervals from May through August of all years from 2009 to 2012.…”

Section: Plantation History and Silvicultural Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The low importance of site in regulating tree volume was notable given the strong overriding effects of site on poplar growth dynamics found by Henkel-Johnson et al (2016), which in the latter prevented the separation of localized ecosite (i.e., soil and landform) effects from generalized differences in site-specific vegetation composition. Indeed, our best models indicated the near-bole understory accounted for up to 10% of tree growth, suggesting other factors, including potentially soil conditions together with genotypic variation, were influencing the performance of individual trees.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Competition effects also vary depending on the identity and abundance of competitors, and generally results in a loss of tree biomass and altered crown morphology (Marino andGross 1998, Kabba et al 2007). Of particular interest is the highly damaging effects that neighbouring grasses, especially aggressive perennials, have on poplar growth due to competition for root space, nutrients, light, and soil moisture (Powell and Bork 2004, Kabba et al 2007, Messier et al 2009, Henkel-Johnson et al 2016. On the other hand there are the uncertain but potentially facilitative effects of understory legumes that contribute to soil nitrogen availability (Jose et al 2004, Powell andBork 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach provides information needed to prioritize silvicultural management efforts in operational plantations (Henkel-Johnson 2014). Henkel-Johnson et al (2016) conducted an examination of the effect of in-situ understory vegetation, including neighbour species identity, abundance and spatial proximity on hybrid poplar diameter growth in plantations in an equivalent ecoregion. Their conclusions were limited however, due to a lack of quality tree height and volume increment data which was the result of unexpected recurrent winter moose browsing, as well as low variability in the underlying vegetation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their conclusions were limited however, due to a lack of quality tree height and volume increment data which was the result of unexpected recurrent winter moose browsing, as well as low variability in the underlying vegetation. Since volume increment may be assumed to reflect competitive effects and offer an understanding of net tree-neighbour relationships when compared to total standing tree volume, this was a key constraint for Henkel-Johnson et al (2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relationships between understory vegetation and hybrid poplar growth and size in an operational plantation

Grenke¹,

Ellen²,

ThomasBarb³

et al. 2016

The Forestry Chronicle

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The effect of varying composition and abundance of neighbouring herbaceous vegetation on tree growth in commercial hybrid poplar plantations remains unclear. We evaluated relationships between tree stem volume, volume increment, and the abundance of various growth forms (perennial grasses, legumes, and perennial forbs excluding legumes) adjacent to the tree base in four-year-old plantation trees under conditions protected from ungulate herbivory. Associations between tree metrics and the understory revealed that perennial grasses consistently reduced tree size and current annual volume growth, and the negative effects of grasses were made worse by increasing legume cover. Under little to no perennial grass cover however, the presence of legumes had a positive impact on tree size and growth, suggesting net facilitative versus competitive effects. The pesence of forbs other than legumes led to no apparent competitive effects after four years, and may instead signify the absence of more competitive understory vegetation, particularly grasses. While final modelled relationships showed that the understory accounted for a limited amount of variance in tree volume (R 2 =0.10) and volume increment (R 2 =0.09) in four-year-old trees, these results nevertheless have implications for the development of silvicultural prescriptions targeting understory vegetation in order to maximize commercial hybrid poplar plantation yields.Keywords: competition, facilitation, farmed plantations, legumes, volume increment, yield loss RÉSUMÉ L' effet qu' ont la composition et l'abondance de la végétation herbacée avoisinante sur la croissance des arbres des plantations commerciales de peuplier hybride demeure mal compris. Nous avons évalué les relations entre le volume de la tige des arbres, l'accroissement en volume et l'abondance de différentes formes de végétation herbacée (graminées vivaces, légumineuses et dicotylédones herbacées vivaces autres que légumineuses) avoisinant la souche des arbres dans des plantations de quatre ans protégées des ongulés herbivores. Une comparaison entre les mesures des arbres et la végétation en sous-étage a permis de constater que les graminées vivaces ont réduit systématiquement la taille des arbres et l'accroissement annuel en volume et que l'impact négatif des graminées a augmentait avec le couvert de légumineuses. Cependant, dans le cas d'un couvert réduit ou d'une absence de graminées vivaces, la présence de légumineuses a eu un effet positif sur la taille et la croissance des arbres, laissant entrevoir un effet net positif plutôt qu'une compétition. La présence de dicotylédones autres que légumineuses ne semble pas avoir occasionné de compétition visible après quatre ans et pourrait au contraire traduire l'absence d'une végétation compétitive en sous-étage, notamment par les graminées. Même si les relations finales modélisées indiquent que la végétation en sous-étage comptait pour une faible part de la variance du volume des arbres (R 2 = 0,10) et de l'accroissement en volume (R 2 = 0,09) ch...

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Section: Plantation History and Silvicultural Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Relationships between understory vegetation and hybrid poplar growth and size in an operational plantation

Grenke¹,

Ellen²,

ThomasBarb³

et al. 2016

The Forestry Chronicle

Self Cite

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Responses of planted Populus tremuloides seedlings to grass competition during early establishment

Bockstette

Pinno

Landhäusser

2018

Trees

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Key message Root systems of aspen seedlings display limited architectural plasticity in response to below-ground competition, but seedlings compensate for restricted rooting space and reduced root system size, by optimizing water uptake. Abstract Below-ground competition with grasses often plays a critical role during tree seedling establishment, but many underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We used a controlled field experiment to study how trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) seedlings compete with smooth brome grass (Bromus inermis L.) for space during the first 3 years of seedling establishment and how it affected aspen seedling development. Our study showed that competition with grasses had a limited impact on architectural plasticity of aspen seedlings. Seedlings faced with competition from smooth brome were overall smaller and most architectural parameters, with the exception of shoot height, appeared simply scaled down proportionally. Shoot height changed less than other parameters, because aspen competing with grass allocated relatively more carbon to shoots than roots and adopted a slender shoot morphology to quickly overtop the competition. Aspen growing with grass competition had significantly smaller root systems. Both lateral extent and maximum rooting depth were reduced by ~ 50%. In response to the restricted rooting space, roots of aspen seedlings faced with grass competition had a lower specific root length. Root carbohydrate reserves were not affected by competition; however, aspen roots growing with grass competition had higher soluble sugar concentrations which may be associated with the observed three times higher water uptake efficiency per unit root biomass. Our findings suggest that aspen seedlings have limited capacity for architectural plasticity in response to root competition, but are at least temporarily able to compensate for reduced root system size and rooting space, by optimizing water uptake efficiency.

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Financial performance of diverse levels of early competition suppression and pre-commercial thinning on loblolly pine stand development

et al. 2020

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Influence of weed composition, abundance, and spatial proximity on growth in young hybrid poplar plantations

Cited by 18 publications

References 38 publications

Relationships between understory vegetation and hybrid poplar growth and size in an operational plantation

Relationships between understory vegetation and hybrid poplar growth and size in an operational plantation

Responses of planted Populus tremuloides seedlings to grass competition during early establishment

Financial performance of diverse levels of early competition suppression and pre-commercial thinning on loblolly pine stand development

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