Abstract

We present here the results of a water and nutrient manipulation experiment in a five-year-old plantation of maritime pine in south-western France.Water and nutrient levels were manipulated in a factorial design with two levels of irrigation (control receiving only rainfall (C) and irrigated (I)) and three levels of fertilisation (control with no added nutrients (C), P-only (P) and annual addition of a complete nutrient mix (F)) in order to quantify growth limitations of plantation forest in this particular area.The treatments applied during five years increased above-ground biomass annual increment by 4% (I) to 58% (IF) with respect to the control (C). The fertilised plots had a slightly non-significant lower root-to-shoot ratio. The effect of irrigation was maximal in 2002, resulting in 6%, 7% and 12% higher growth rate on the F, C and P plots, respectively. A windstorm disturbed the experiment in 1999 and has affected preferentially the fertilised plots, with IF plots displaying 60% damage.The higher growth rate of fertilised and irrigated plots was attributed to both an increase (estimated at 5 to 15%) in the amount of light absorbed by the canopy, and an increase (estimated at 26% for IF plots) in the amount of above-ground biomass produced annually per unit leaf area.

Keywords

fertilisation; irrigation; nutrient optimisation; Pinus pinaster; stormdamage; leaf area index; growth efficiency

Published in

Annals of Forest Science
2008, Volume: 65, number: 8, article number: 814
Publisher: EDP SCIENCES S A

SLU Authors

• Linder, Sune

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2008060

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/19728