Tree Shelters Influence Growth and Survival of Carob (Ceratonia Siliqua L.) and Cork Oak
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Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 46, © 2001 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 Tree shelters influence growth and survival of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) and cork oak (Quercus suber L.) plants on degraded Mediterranean sites P.M. Marques, L. Ferreira, 0.Correia & M.A. Martins-Lou@o Centro de Ecologia e Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ci6ncias da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal Abstract Tree shelters were used in an ecological restoration effort in 1999 and 2000 to test the decrease in transplant shock and increase in growth and survival of two selected Mediterranean species, carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) and cork oak (Quercus suber L.), planted in a dry degraded region. At plantation, two treatments were established, one planted with 60 cm tall TUBEX MinitubesTMand the other planted without tree shelters. Results have shown that tree shelters dramatically increased survival of sheltered plants and also stimulated height growth, probably caused by reduced light regimes inside shelters, inducing shade adaptation. Different biomass partition occurred between sheltered and unsheltered plants, although no effect in increased biomass production was observed. This work shows that individual tree shelters successfully increase establishment of newly planted plants in dry, degraded areas of the Mediterranean. 1 Introduction Land degradation and drought are serious global problems, which threaten extensive marginal lands all around the world. In the Mediterranean region, the arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas are particularly susceptible to erosion and soil degradation. There has been an increased awareness towards Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 46, © 2001 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 rehabilitation of these degraded ecosystems, which is causing socio-economic changes based on improved land-use management practices. One result of these changes has been the encouragement of ecological reforestation of these unproductive and marginal lands. Unfortunately, the establishment of trees on degraded ecosystems can be very difficult [l]. The use of individual tree shelters as an improved planting technique can greatly increase early growth of seedlings, by acting as a small greenhouse providing a different microclimate and by reducing wind and browsing damage to the young plants [2, 3, 41. Survival can also be positively affected [l, 51. However, some authors have expressed some concern in relation to this practice. Economic and practical considerations [6, 71; prevention of the hardening off of seedlings prior to the onset of cold weather, leading to decreased resistance to freezes; decreased light quality and quantity [6, 81 and root growth inhibition [g] have all been reported. Despite these drawbacks, tree shelters are being used in increasingly higher numbers in various regions around the world, with varying degrees of success. Although many studies with tree shelters have been made in temperate regions, so far few experiments have been reported in dry regions, where high temperatures combined with water stress create serious limitations to a reforestation effort [g]. This study has been designed to evaluate the effect of individual tree shelters in the successful establishment of two autochthonous Mediterranean species, cork oak (Quercus suber L.) and carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.), planted in a degraded dry sub-humid Mediterranean field site in the Algarve, Portugal. 2 Material and methods 2.1 Site description Two field trials were established on public property (Terras da Ordem), in Odeleite, Algarve, SE Portugal, in mid February on two consecutive years, 1999 (referred to as Casa Branca) and 2000 (referred to as Portela Alta). Casa Branca (37'19' N, 7'31' W) and Portela Alta (37'19' N, 7'29' W) field sites were geographically near each other (3 km), located 130 m and l10 m above sea level, consisted of a sloping hillside, 11-14% and 4-1 l%, with a NE and a NW to NE aspect, respectively. Both sites were dominated by a degraded maquis consisting mainly of evergreen sclerophyllous and drought semi- deciduous shrubs such as Cistus ladanifer (average 100-150 cm height) * patched with C. monspeliensis, Genista hirsuta and Lavandula stoechas, vegetation typical of degraded Mediterranean dry areas. The shallow (average 20-30 cm deep), stony soil, developed over schist, is a sandy loam with poor organic matter content (average 1.65% in Casa Branca and 0.65% in Portela Alta) and average pH of 5.7 It is considered a Leptosol. Mean annual temperature and rainfall were 18' C and 513 mm, respectively. Annual Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 46, © 2001 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 rainfall distribution (1998-2000) has been characterised (table 1). These sites have a Bagnouls-Gaussen aridity index (BGI) of 184, indicating very dry conditions and making them moderately eroded, fragile areas concerning desertification [10]. Table 1: Annual rainfall distribution (mm) for 199811999 and 1999/2000 and mean annual rainfall (1964- 1980) for Faro weather station (37'0 1' N, 07'58'.. .- W). l998Il999 l999I2OOO Mean Annual Rainfall October - March 98 264 42 1.O April - June 33 168 73.1 July - September 33 18 19.4 2.2 Experiment description Two treatments were applied: treatment TS+, with tree shelters (brown TUBEX Minitubem, 60 cm tall and 7-1 1 cm in diameter) and treatment TS-, without tree shelters (control). Site preparation consisted of 40 X 40 X 40 cm individual planting holes. Container-grown plants, aged 7.5 months old (Casa Branca) and 10 months old (Portela Alta), were outplanted at a spacing of 2 m X 2 m each. The surrounding vegetation was left as intact as possible. Each plot was made up of three replicate blocks with plants distributed in a completely randomised block design. In Casa Branca, each block had 34 control and 50 sheltered plants for carob tree and 7 control and 12 sheltered plants for cork oak. In Portela Alta, each block had 40 control and 40 sheltered plants for carob tree and 40 control and 80 sheltered plants for cork oak. For each field trial 309 plants were used in 1999 and 600 plants in 2000. 2.3 Sampling and analysis Survival assessment was made 2 months after plantation (April 1999 and 2000), before summer (June 1999 and 2000) and after summer (October 1999 and September 2000). After the first summer, plant survival continued to be monitored in Casa Branca until the end of the second summer. Main stem height, basal diameter, number of branches, leaf area and plant dry mass (roots, leaves and stem, oven dried at 70' C) were sampled before and after summer, but only after summer results are shown. Leaf area ratio (LAR, determined as total leaf area per total plant dry weight, specific leaf weight (SLW, mg.cm2) determined as leaf area per leaf dry weight and root:shoot ratio (g.g-') were firther determined for biomass partition analysis. Physiological parameters, such as midday maximal photochemical efficiency (using a PAM-2000 portable chlorophyll fluorescence analyser, Waltz, Germany) to measure optimal quantum yield of PSI1 (Fv:Fm), as an indicator of environmental stresses on photosystem 11, Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 46, © 2001 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 and predawn leaf water potential (using a Scholander pressure chamber) were also measured. All data were analysed by analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test for significant differences (p<0.05) using STATISTICA software (StatSoft, Inc.). Survival percentages were first transformed into arcsine to better approach a Gauss distribution. 3 Results Tree shelters successfully influenced plant survival rates in Casa Branca, with higher mortality observed in unsheltered plants (figure 1). After the first summer in the field, significant differences were found between treatments in C. siliqua plants (62.1% in sheltered vs. 12.4% in unsheltered plants). For Q. suber, although non-significant, sheltered plants had also higher survival rates (39.7% vs. 28.9%). In the second year, the same trend was maintained in Casa Branca. At the end of the second summer, survival was 34.0% in sheltered vs. 2.0% in unsheltered plants for C. siliqua and 22.7% vs. 9.5% for Q. suber. -&TS+ Ceratonia siliqua - - -0-- - TS- Quercus suber ---C-- TS+ . .D.. TS- 15/02/99 20/04/99 14/06/99 24/ lO/99 17/04/00 01/06/00 25/09/00 blantation ) Sampling Date Figure 1: Field survival of C. siliqua and Q. suber plants in Casa Branca (1999) TS+, plants with tree shelter; TS-, control plants (without tree shelter). Results are means (n=3) + standard errors. Portela Alta exhibited the same pattern in plant survival (figure 2), with significant differences for both species after the end of the dry season (83.5% in sheltered vs. 33.9% in unsheltered plants for C. siliqua and 82.6% vs. Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 46, © 2001 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 Ecos,ssrems and S~f~rairlnbleDe~>elopmenr 639 53.0% for Q. suber). In 2000 both species had an overall higher survival rate than in 1999. 15/02/00 17/04/00 0 1/06/00 25/09/00 (plantation ) Sampling Date Figure 2: Field survival of C. siliqua and Q. suber plants in Portela Alta (2000). TS+, plants with tree shelter; TS-, control plants (without tree shelter). Results are means (n=3) standard + errors. 3.2 Growth development 3.2.1 Height and diameter The effect of tree shelters on the height development of both species is summarised in figure 3. At the time of plantation, no differences were observed between plants of each species. However, after the end of the first summer, and for both field sites, height increment was notorious in sheltered plants. Carob sheltered plants experienced an increase in height, although non-significant, of 29.9% and 39.3% in relation to unsheltered plants, in 1999 and 2000, respectively.