Eight-Year Survival and Growth of Sakhalin Fir Seedlings with One Weeding Operation: Impact of Mechanical Site Preparation, Vegetation Release, Summer Planting, Stock Type, and Forwarder Trail

In Hokkaido, northern Japan, bareroot Sakhalin fir seedlings are conventionally planted in spring and fall, following strip site preparation that alternates managed and unmanaged strips. However, this method requires seven years of weeding due to encroachment of evergreen dwarf bamboo. Given diminis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forests 2024-06, Vol.15 (6), p.1012
Main Authors: Harayama, Hisanori, Tsuyama, Ikutaro, Yamada, Takeshi, Kitao, Mitsutoshi, Furuya, Naoyuki, Yazaki, Kenichi, Sugai, Tetsuto, Uemura, Akira, Sasaki, Shozo, Utsugi, Hajime
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bamboo
bareroot seedlings
Clearcutting
Coniferous forests
container seedlings
Containers
Drought
Encroachment
Forests
Generalized linear models
Growth
height growth
Herbicides
Labor market
Plantations
Planting
Planting season
Plants (botany)
Reforestation
Regrowth
root collar diameter growth
Sea level
Seedlings
soil compaction
Stocks
Summer
Survival
Trees
Vegetation
weeding
Weeds
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Summary:In Hokkaido, northern Japan, bareroot Sakhalin fir seedlings are conventionally planted in spring and fall, following strip site preparation that alternates managed and unmanaged strips. However, this method requires seven years of weeding due to encroachment of evergreen dwarf bamboo. Given diminishing forest labor availability, a shortage of workers for planting and weeding operations has become a problem in reforestation following clearcutting. We examined whether comprehensive mechanical site preparation (MSP) could reduce weeding frequency by preventing regrowth of dwarf bamboo and whether container seedlings could extend the planting season into summer. Over eight years, the survival and growth of summer-planted bareroot and container seedlings were examined on a fully MSP-treated site with only one weeding operation in the fifth year. Full-site MSP resulted in a shift of the vegetation from dwarf bamboo to deciduous plants, leading to high survival and growth rates of Sakhalin fir seedlings despite minimal weeding. Container seedlings exhibited superior establishment and maintained higher survival rates over eight years than bareroot seedlings. However, planting on the forwarder trail decreased seedling growth, and ultimately decreased survival under rare summer drought. Our findings indicate that container seedling summer planting and full-site MSP may represent an alternative approach to reforestation of Sakhalin fir, potentially reducing the need for weeding and extending the planting season.
ISSN:1999-4907
1999-4907
DOI:10.3390/f15061012