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Research article2021Peer reviewedOpen access

Survival and growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings in north Sweden: effects of planting position and arginine phosphate addition

Haggstrom, Bodil; Domevscik, Matej; Ohlund, Jonas; Nordin, Annika

Abstract

Forest regeneration by tree planting on harvested sites in the boreal forests of northern Europe is frequently preceded by site preparation to increase survival and growth of the seedlings. We studied whether a small addition of arginine phosphate (AP treatment) at the time of planting would further enhance the seedlings' early performance. Following two growth seasons, we investigated survival and growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings on 11 locations between latitudes 61.1 degrees N and 67.1 degrees N in the boreal forest of northern Sweden. The planting positions of seedlings were on capped mounds and bare mineral soil following mechanical site preparation, and in non-prepared soil. We found that seedling survival following site preparation increased with AP treatment. On capped mounds, seedling survival was more variable and appeared more dependent on precipitation during the first month after planting than seedlings positioned in the mineral soil. The positive effect of AP treatment on seedling growth differed between sites and was more pronounced on sites with longer growing seasons. AP treatment had no significant effect on survival of seedlings planted in non-prepared soil, while the positive effect on growth was more pronounced at sites with higher fertility using this planting position.

Keywords

Pinus sylvestris; forest regeneration; seedling survival; seedling growth; planting positions; arginine phosphate

Published in

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
2021, volume: 36, number: 6, pages: 423-433
Publisher: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS AS

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2021.1957999

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/113289