Height and diameter growth of dense Populus plantations in response to fertilization and irrigation

✍ Scribed by T.W Bowersox; L.R Stover; P.R Blankenhorn; C.H Strauss; B.E Lord

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 792 KB
• Volume: 1
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0961-9534
• DOI: 10.1016/0961-9534(91)90033-9

✦ Synopsis

Survival, height and diameter for the first four year rotation were measured on two intensively cultured Populus hybrid plantations in central Pennsylvania. Treatments of control, irrigation, fertilization and fertilization/irrigation were installed on two sites and in two establishment years. Overall treatment survival was not affected by site but values were lower for 1980 planted trees (83%) than 1981 planted trees (90%). Survival values among the treatments were similar until the later ages of the first rotation.

Treatments with fertilizers had lower four-year-old survival (78%) than the treatments without fertilizers (86%). The four-year-old control trees averaged 5.3 and 6.8 m in height, and 3.4 and 4.2 cm in diameter for the 1980 and 1981 establishment years, respectively. Fertilization, with or without irrigation, consistently increased annual height and diameter over the control. Fertilization/irrigation did not result in tree size values that were greater than fertilization. In general, there were inconsistent increases in annual height and diameter from irrigation.