Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T05:25:40.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutritional requirements of Sitka spruce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Hugh G. Miller  and
John D. Miller
Hugh G. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Forestry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB9 2UU, Scotland, U.K.
John D. Miller
Affiliation:
Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen AB9 2QJ, Scotland, U.K.
Get access

Synopsis

Experiments have shown that Sitka spruce on poor soils requires relatively frequent applications of fertiliser, phosphorus being most commonly required, other deficiencies in decreasing frequency being potassium, nitrogen and, very rarely, copper. Recent evidence suggests that growth responses to fertilisers are commonest while stands are young and the green canopy is being established. Spruce has a heavy crown and in consequence nutrient demands are high prior to canopy closure. Thereafter, the annual production of foliage by spruce is no greater than that of other species of comparable growth rate and by this stage the establishment of cycles within the tree and through the litter layer enable efficient re-use of nutrients and hence the demands placed upon the soil fall dramatically.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 93 , Issue 1-2: Sitka Spruce , 1987 , pp. 75 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Binns, W. O. 1962. Some aspects of peat as a substrate for tree growth. Irish Forestry 19, 32–55.Google Scholar
Binns, W. O., Mayhead, G. J., & MacKenzie, J. M. 1980. Nutrient deficiencies of conifers in British forests. Forestry Commission Leaflet 76. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Davies, E. J. M., Dannatt, N., & McCavish, W. J. 1971. An investigation into fertilizer response. Scottish Forestry 25, 100–109.Google Scholar
Dickson, D. A. 1971. The effect of form, rate and position of phosphatic fertilizers on growth and nutrient uptake of Sitka spruce on deep peat. Forestry 44, 17–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everard, J. E. 1974. Fertilizers in the establishment of conifers in Wales and southern England. Forestry Commission Booklet 41. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Jack, W. H. 1965. Experiments on tree growing on peat in Northern Ireland. Forestry 38, 20–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConaghy, S. 1962. The effect of fertilizer treatments on growth and composition of Sitka spruce. Irish Forestry 19, 56–59.Google Scholar
MacDonald, J. A. B. 1945. The Lon Mor: twenty year's research into wetland peat afforestation in Scotland. Forestry 19, 67–73.Google Scholar
Mclntosh, R., 1981. Fertilizer treatment of Sitka spruce in the establishment phase in upland Britain. Scottish Forestry 35, 3–13.Google Scholar
MacDonald, J. A. B., 1983. Nitrogen deficiency in establishment phase Sitka spruce in upland Britain. Scottish Forestry 37, 185–193.Google Scholar
MacDonald, J. A. B., 1984. Fertilizer experiments in established conifer stands. Forestry Commission Record 127. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Malcolm, D. C. 1975. The influence of heather on silvicultural practice—An appraisal. Scottish Forestry 29, 14–24.Google Scholar
Miller, H. G. 1981. Forest fertilization: some guiding concepts. Forestry 54, 157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, H. G. 1984. Dynamics of nutrient cycling in plantation ecosystems. In Nutrition of Plantation Forests, eds. Bower, G. D., & Nambiar, E. K. S., Chap. 3, pp. 53–78. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Miller, H. G., & Cooper, J. M. 1973. Changes in amount and distribution of stem-growth pole-stage Corsican pine following application of nitrogen fertilizer. Forestry 46, 157–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, H. G., Miller, J. D., & Cooper, J. M. 1980. Biomass and nutrient accumulation at different growth rates in thinned plantations of Corsican pine. Forestry 53, 23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, H. G., Miller, J. D., & Cooper, J. M. 1981. Optimum foliar nitrogen concentration in pine and its changes with stand age. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 11, 563–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Möller, G. 1983. Det praktiska skogsgödslinges inverkan på avrinningsvattnet. Föreningen Skogsträdsförädling och Institutet för Skogsförbättring, Årsbok 1983, 67–111.Google Scholar
Morrison, I. K., Swan, H. S. P., Foster, N. W., & Winston, D. A. 1976. Ten-year growth response to fertilizer of a 90-year-old-black spruce stand in northwestern Ontario. Forestry Chronicle 52, 233–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Carroll, N., 1978. The nursing of Sitka Spruce 1. Japanese larch. Irish Forestry 35, 60–65.Google Scholar
Pyatt, D. G. 1970. Soil Groups of Upland Forests. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Pyatt, D. G., Craven, M. M., & Williams, B. L. 1979. Peatland classification for forestry in Great Britain. Proceedings of an International Symposium on the Classification of Peat and Peatlands, International Peat Society. Finland.Google Scholar
Stirling-Maxwell, J., 1925. On the use of manures in peat planting—1925. Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society 39, 103–109.Google Scholar
Stone, E. L. 1968. Microelement nutrition of forest trees: a review. In Forest Fertilization, Theory and Practice, pp. 132–175. Alabama: Tennessee Valley Authority.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. M. A. 1986. Forest fertilization in Great Britain. Proceedings of the Fertilizer Society 1986. The Fertilizer Society of London.Google Scholar
Viro, P. J. 1950. Fertilization trials on forest soils. Comm. Inst. For. Fenn. 37 (7).Google Scholar
Weatherell, J. 1953. The checking of forest trees by heather. Forestry 26, 37–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weatherell, J. 1957. The use of nurse species in the afforestation of upland heaths. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 51, 298–304.Google Scholar
Zehetmayr, J. W. L. 1954. Experiments in tree planting on peat. Forestry Commission Bulletin 22. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Zehetmayr, J. W. L. 1960. Afforestation of Upland Heaths. Forestry Commission Bulletin 32. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar