Abstract

Feeding by pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) causes severe damage to newly planted conifer seedlings in most parts of Scandinavia. We investigated the effect of planting time and insecticide treatment on pine weevil damage and seedling growth. The main objective was to study if planting in early autumn on fresh clear-cuts would promote seedling establishment and reduce the amount of damage caused by pine weevil the following season. The experiment was conducted in southern Sweden and in south-eastern Norway with an identical experimental design at three sites in each country. On each site, Norway spruce seedlings with or without insecticide treatment were planted at four different planting times: August, September, November and May the following year. In Sweden, the proportion of untreated seedlings that were killed by pine weevils was reduced when seedlings were planted at the earliest time (August/September) compared to late planting in November, or May the following year. This pattern was not found in Norway. The average length of leading shoot, diameter growth and biomass were clearly benefited by planting in August in both countries. Insecticide treatment decreased the number of seedlings killed or severely damaged in both Norway and Sweden.

Keywords

establishment; Autumn planting; seedling growth

Published in

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
2016, Volume: 31, number: 3, pages: 262-270
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS

SLU Authors

• Wallertz, Kristina

  • Unit for Field-based Forest Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Hjelm, Karin

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

Associated SLU-program

SLU Plant Protection Network


Sustainable Development Goals

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss


UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2015.1125523

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/81223