Growth and establishment of woody subsidiary plants for regeneration of compacted soils

Frankfurt am Main

2015

S. 137-150

Artikel aus einer ZeitschriftUnselbständiges Werk

200194543

In Central Europe, since the 1960s, repetitive passage on unprotected forest soils of heavy forest machines used for harvesting and logging has become a widespread problem in forestry due to the destruction of soil structure by compaction. Soil compaction is often responsible for a poor establishment of trees and root propagation on unprotected forest soils. The aim of this study is to describe the establishment and growth of four woody species planted in a block design in three skid trails without treatment, treated with lime, mulch and the combination of both and two untreated and undamaged control plots. The base for this study is a controlled wheeling experiment at a silt clay loam forest soil in the Swabian Alb. In 2012, the skid trails and the control plots were planted with seedlings of grey alder (Alnus incana), black alder (Alnus glutinosa), alder buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula) and goat willow (Salix caprea). In 2012 and 2013, we measured the success of the tree species and the different methods applied by analyzing the survival rate and biometric parameters for the planted trees (tree height growth, crown diameter, basal diameter and shoot length). At the treated skid trails the woody species showed an enhanced survival rate and tree growth in comparison to the untreated skid trail and the uncompacted control plots. It was also remarkable that both Alnus species presented a higher survival rate than Rhamnus frangula and Salix caprea.