Full length articleSoil properties and maple–beech regeneration a decade after liming in a northern hardwood stand
Introduction
Sugar maple (SM; Acer saccharum Marsh.) has a broad distribution in North America, and thrives throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern regions of Canada. Many studies in the Northeast have demonstrated the importance of calcium (Ca) for SM vitality (Heisey, 1995, Ouimet and Camiré, 1995, Wilmot et al., 1995, Wilmot et al., 1996, Sharpe et al., 1999, Horsley et al., 2000, Horsley et al., 2002, Moore et al., 2000, Duchesne et al., 2002, Moore and Ouimet, 2006). Calcium, the fifth most abundant element in trees, is an important component for wood formation and maintenance of cell wall (e.g. Lawrence et al., 1995). This nutrient also plays a role in fine-root growth of SM (Adams and Hutchinson, 1992). Moreover, some studies suggest better photosynthetic rates for SM with increasing Ca availability (Ellsworth and Liu, 1994, Wilmot et al., 1996). In recent decades, however, acid deposition increased leaching losses from soil of base cations, particularly Ca, above the replenishment rate by chemical weathering and atmospheric depositions, causing a reduction in the availability of mineral nutrients in some non-calcareous soils (Bailey et al., 2005, Houle et al., 1997, Likens et al., 1998, Ouimet et al., 2001, Ouimet et al., 2006, Watmough and Dillon, 2003).
Although other hypotheses were developed to explain the failure of SM regeneration and the large increase of pole-size American beech (AB; Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) trees observed in northeastern North America in last decades, such as the indirect effect of beech bark disease (Hane et al., 2003), recent studies suggest that acid deposition and subsequent depletion of base cations and acidification of soils, combined with SM dieback in some areas, are another likely explanation to this phenomenon (Jenkins, 1997, Duchesne et al., 2005). Moreover, the absence of AB growth response to liming noted in the Long et al. (1997) study, contrary to SM, suggests that AB is not highly sensitive to the acid–base status of soils. This reasoning seriously questions the sustainability of SM in Ca-deficient and declining northern hardwood stands, and suggests that the importance of AB in many regions could increase at the expense of SM if no intervention is taken regarding Ca deficiency. It has been demonstrated that soil exchangeable Ca depletion and its influence on seedling dynamics could lead to substantial decreases in SM canopy dominance within a single forest generation (<125 years, Kobe et al., 2002).
To restore soil Ca status and SM tree health, Ca addition has been tested in Ca-poor northern hardwood soils (Wilmot et al., 1996, Long et al., 1997, Moore et al., 2000, Moore and Ouimet, 2006, Juice et al., 2006). Although beneficial effects of Ca treatment on SM trees were demonstrated in these studies, only a few of them have evaluated the effect of this treatment on SM regeneration (Long et al., 1999, Kobe et al., 2002, Juice et al., 2006, Bigelow and Canham, 2007). In Pennsylvania, Long et al. (1999) observed that SM seedling survival was higher (70%) in limed (22.4 t ha−1) compared with unlimed plots (32%), 5 years after treatment. In New Hampshire, Kobe et al. (2002) observed a 52% increase in relative diameter growth of SM seedlings in Ca-amended plots (100 kg Ca ha−1) compared to controls, after 2 years. In the same area, Juice et al. (2006) also reported a much higher survivorship of SM seedlings on Ca-treated (36.6%) than on a control watershed (10.2%), 5 years after treatment.
Given the importance of regeneration for future forest composition and structure, we evaluated the mid-term (11 years) effect of liming on regeneration in a Ca-poor northern hardwood stand. We hypothesized that liming changed soil properties and that these changes caused a beneficial effect on SM regeneration abundance and growth, but no effect on AB regeneration.
Section snippets
Site description
The Lake Clair Watershed (46′57″, 71′40″, 285 m a.s.l.) is located approximately 50 km northwest of Quebec City, QC. The forest stand is uneven-aged and dominated by SM in association with AB and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), with basal areas of 17.3, 7.3, and 4.0 m2 ha−1, respectively (2006 survey). Dominant and codominant SM trees are between 85 and 130 years old with an average height and diameter at breast height (DBH) of 20.2 m and 27.6 cm, respectively. Dendrochronological
Soil
Ten years after the lime treatments, soil properties changed with the lime application rate, at least down to the deepest soil layer sampled (20–40 cm; Table 1). In the first 12 cm of soil, pH increased and exchangeable acidity decreased in a linear fashion with the lime rate, while concentrations of exchangeable Ca and Mg, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and base saturation (BS) increased in a quadratic fashion, mainly because of the 20 t ha−1 lime rate (p ≤ 0.014). Soil pH and BS increased from (mean
Liming effect on soil
After 10 years, liming drastically changed the properties of this soil, particularly for the 20 t ha−1 lime rate, with effects decreasing downward in the soil profile. Liming increased soil pH, exchangeable Ca and Mg, CEC and BS in the first 20 cm, and its effect was also apparent down to 40 cm. Many of the liming effects on the soil in this experiment were already observable after 5 years (Houle et al., 2002). Magnesium appears to have moved downward in the soil profile more rapidly than Ca (Table
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec (project no. 112310063). We wish to thank Claude Camiré from Université Laval who supervised the experimental implementation, Benoît Toussaint, Jacques Martineau, Jean Gagné and Mario Saint-Germain for field assistance, Louis Blais for statistical advice, the chemistry laboratory of the Direction de la recherche forestière for chemical analyses, and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive
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