Wood ash as a fertilizer on drained mires — growth and foliar nutrients of Scots pine

Abstract

The availability of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) commonly limits tree growth on drained peatlands. The nutritional status and volume growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) after varying doses of wood ash fertilization were investigated in seven field experiments located on deep-peated sites in Finland between latitudes 63°N and 67°N. Needle samples were taken 14–20 years after fertilization and trees measured 15 years after fertilization. Annual growth rates and differences in foliar nutrients were analyzed with a two-way ANOVA model. A regression model was used in the analysis of periodic relative volume growth. High doses of wood ash (100–265 kg P·ha–1, 225–450 kg K·ha–1) resulted in greater changes in foliar nutrient concentrations and in a stronger growth response than low doses (5–50 kg P·ha–1, 14–210 kg K·ha–1). Significant increases in needle mass and concentrations of P, K, and B were observed in the ash-fertilized stands, with a good status for these elements 20 years after fertilization. Depending on the ash dose, the mean annual volume growth was 0.5–1.4 m3·ha–1 higher than in the control plots during the 15 year postfertilization period.

Ash-fertilization improves germination and early establishment of birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) seedlings on a cut-away peatland

“…Moss cover stabilizes loose peat surface and prevents the frost-heaving damages of seedlings, which is reported to complicate the rooting and survival of young seedlings on cut-away peatlands (Campbell et al, 2002;Groeneveld and Rochefort, 2002;Lavoie et al, 2005). The positive impacts of ash-fertilization on tree growth are reported to last up to 50 years or more (Mikola, 1975;Moilanen et al, 2002Moilanen et al, , 2005, which is an adequately long period when considering the energy-wood cultivation of birch with 20-30 year's rotation time.…”

Response of Pinus radiata seedlings to application of mixed wood-bark ash at planting in a temperate region: Nutrition and growth

“…Fertilization with ash can be applied at different stages of stand development, but it has been employed mainly near the age of maximum volume growth. Most of the growth increases reported in the literature refer to fertilizations made at the pole stage in Scots pine (Saarsalmi et al, 2004(Saarsalmi et al, , 2006Moilanen et al, 2005;Jacobson, 2003). It has been shown that volume increment could be 4-5-fold improved in peatlands (Ferm et al, 1992) and that the effect of wood ash is usually longer lived that that of PK commercial fertilizers in peatlands, due to a longer effective duration of P (Silfverberg and Hotanen, 1989;Moilanen et al, 2004).…”

Effects of wood chip ash fertilization on soil chemistry in a Norway spruce plantation on a nutrient-poor soil

“…Several studies on how application of wood chip ash affects the soil and soil solution chemistry in forest ecosystems have been carried out in the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden and Finland (Arvidsson et al, 2002;Arvidsson and Lundkvist, 2003;Egnell et al, 1998;Egnell, 2011;Eriksson, 1998;Eriksson et al, 1998;Högbom et al, 2001;Jacobsen, 2003;Karltun et al, 2008;Moilanen et al, 2005;Pitman, 2006;Ring et al, 1998Ring et al, , 1999 …”