Secondary Vegetation Succession on Jack Pine (Pinus Banksiana) Cutovers in Northeastern Ontario, Canada
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Forest Ecology U SLU Graduate Thesis in Biology 2000 T0 c, C Secondary Vegetation Succession on Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) Cutovers in Northeastern Ontario, Canada Daniel Tiveau Supervisor: John Jeglum Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Stencilserie nr 57 Skogsvetenskapliga fakulteten Institutionen for skogsekologi ISSN 1104-1870 901 83 UMEA ISRN SLU-SEKOL-STL-57-SE DISCLAIMER Portions of this document may be illegible in electronic image products. Images are produced from the best available original document. Tiveau, D.: Secondary vegetation succession on jack pine (Pinus banksiana) cutovers in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Abstract The effects of different harvesting and site preparation methods on competing vegetation were studied in nine jack pine {Pinus banksiana) cutovers in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Six different treatments plus glyphosate herbiciding and no herbiciding were applied: 1) tree-length harvesting followed by trenching, and full-tree harvesting followed by five site preparations: 2) no site preparation, 3) trenching and 4) blading & compaction as well as blading followed by two planting densities, 5) 1.2m and 6) 2m. Competing vegetation was assessed preharvest and years 1, 2, 3, and 5 postharvest. Data was also available from nine juvenile sites as well as nine semimature sites. Data collection consisted of coverage values of each species as well as structural data for main life forms in height classes. Growth and health data of the planted jack pine seedlings were also available. The data was analyzed using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), diversity indices and tabular analysis. Three years after the herbicide application there is no difference between the total coverage in the halfplots that have received herbiciding and those that have not, but an alteration of the relative abundances of species groups has developed; glyphosate herbiciding promotes grasses over shrubs. When no site preparation is applied, shrubs increase and compete with the seedlings, whose growth is cut in half compared to the ones that have been site prepared by trenching. Five years after blading, and blading plus compaction, there is still very little vegetation in the research plots, but there is no reduction of the survival rate and growth of the jack pine seedlings. More dense planting after this treatment leads to more competing vegetation, probably due to increased availability of moisture. Grasses do not seem to be affected by compaction and pioneer mosses are promoted by this treatment but compaction leads to a significant reduction of the total coverage of competing vegetation coming in. Keywords: Secondary vegetation succession, site preparation, blading, compaction, herbiciding, diversity indices. 1 Tiveau, D.: Secondary vegetation succession on jack pine (Pinus banksiana) cutovers in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Table of contents Abstract ................... 1 Preface and acknowledgements .......................................................................... 3 1 Introduction ........................................... 3 2 Study area .............................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Sites ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Experimental design ........ ................................................................................4 3 Methods ..................................................................................................................6 3.1 Detrended correspondence analysis................. .........................................................................6 3.2 Diversity indices ................................... ................ ......................................................................... 6 3.3 Structure .............................................................................................................................................7 3.4 Species .................. ...................................................................................................... ....................... 7 4 Results ......... ............... .............. ................ ..........................................7 4.1 Controls............................................................................................................... 7 4.1.1 Structure .............................................................................................................................................7 4.1.2 Detrended correspondence analysis................................................ ..............................8 4.1.3 Diversity indices ...................................................................... 9 4.1.4 Species ........... ..................... ............... .......................... ..................................... ...........................9 4.2 Effects of herbicide application ................................................................... 10 4.2.1 Structure .................................................... 10 4.2.2 Species ........................... ............................................................................................................. 10 4.2.3 Growth............................................................................ 10 4.3 Effects of no site preparation ..... ................ ..............................................11 4.3.1 Structure ........... ..........................................................................................................................11 4.3.2 Species ............................. 11 4.3.3 Growth ........................ ..................... ....................................................................................... 12 4.4 Full-tree blade ...................... 12 4.4.1 Structure ......................................................................................................................................12 4.4.2 Species ............................................... ......................... .................................................................12 4.4.3 Growth ............................. .......... ....................................... ...................... ...................................12 4.5 Effects of 1.2m spacing instead of 2m spacing on bladed plots......... 13 4.5.1 Structure ..................................................... 13 4.5.2 Species ........... ..................................................................................................... 13 4.5.3 Growth................................................... 14 4.6 Effects of compaction .......................................... ....................... .............15 4.6.1 Structure ........................................................................................................................................15 4.6.2 Species .................... .............. .................................................................................. ...................15 4.6.3 Growth...... .................................. 15 5 Discussion and conclusions ............................. ............................................. 15 5.1 Use of herbicides .................................................................. ............................................ .............15 5.2 No site preparation...... .....................................................................................................................16 5.3 Blading..................................................................................................................................................16 5.4 Spacing on bladed plots.................................................................................................................. 17 5.5 Compaction ................... 17 6 Further research .................................................................................................. 17 7 Literature cited: ................... ................. ........................ ............................ 17 Appendices 2 Tiveau, D.: Secondary vegetation succession on jack pine (Pinus banksiana) cutovers in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Preface and acknowledgements of the province (Howse 1984) and about a third of This paper is the fruit of my graduate work to obtain the total volume of conifers cut annually (OMNR my master's in forestry degree at the Swedish 1990). It has low nutrient requirements and in University of Agricultural Sciences. According to the conjunction with its fast growing character, it could Swedish university system, such a study is to be useful for faelwood production. Jack pine is not roughly equal to 20 weeks of fall-time work including a competitive species and it is thus mostly found fieldwork. on poor sites. Increased public environmental awareness and fear of depletion of nutrients led I would like to thank Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, (NRCan), Canadian Forest Service (CFS) and Great Great Lakes Forestry Centre to develop a study of Lakes Forestry Centre (GLFC) for allowing me to "The effects of a range of biomass removals on join them in their project on the effects of a range long-term productivity of jack pine ecosystems in of harvesting and site preparation methods and for northeastern Ontario" (Tenhagen etal. 1996). supplying the funds for me to do four months of field work in north-eastern