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Survival and growth dynamics of red spruce seedlings planted under different forest cover densities and types

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Abstract

Advance regeneration of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) is scarce in many forest stands, due to past clearcuts and heavy harvesting of large seed trees in partial cuts. Understory enrichment planting has been proposed as a means to reintroduce the species in managed stands in which regeneration is deficient. Here, we present 5-year results regarding survival and growth dynamics of red spruce seedlings planted under hardwood, mixedwood, and coniferous forest covers following various cuts (each made on 0.5–1.2 ha square area): hybrid single-tree and group-selection, irregular shelterwood (two variants: continuous cover and extended irregular shelterwood), uniform regular shelterwood, harvesting with advance regeneration protection (HARP), and careful logging around advanced growth (hereafter referred to as ‘patch clearcut’). Five-year seedling survival did not vary among cuts except under the coniferous cover, where it was better in the heavier cuts (HARP and patch clearcut; 67%) than under continuous cover shelterwood cuts (24%), in which browsing occurrence was high (around 80%). Under the hardwood cover, height, diameter and biomass growth were greater in the extended irregular shelterwood cut than in other treatments. Under the mixedwood and coniferous covers, seedling growth was greater in patch clearcut, likely because transmitted light (90–100% full sunlight) was higher than in other cuts (around 30%). Results suggest that red spruce could be reintroduced using enrichment planting under a partial forest cover, but that additional treatments could be necessary to manage light and to limit browsing pressure in order to optimize long-term survival and growth performance.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Vincent Roy and Stéphane Tremblay for their contribution to the conception and design of the silvicultural experiment. We also thank Nelson Thiffault, an anonymous reviewer, the Associate Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief for their comments and suggestions that allowed us to improve the paper. Field work by Simon Désalliers, Govinda St-Pierre, Christian Villeneuve, Éric Saulnier, Gabrielle Tremblay-Brassard, and many summer students is also greatly appreciated. We are also grateful to Denise Tousignant for English editing. This research is part of Projects 142332006, 142332022, and 142332096 of the Direction de la recherche forestière (Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec).

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  1. Direction de la recherche forestière, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec, 2700, rue Einstein, Quebec, QC, G1P 3W8, Canada

    Daniel Dumais, Catherine Larouche, Patricia Raymond, Steve Bédard & Marie-Claude Lambert

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  1. Daniel Dumais
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Correspondence to Daniel Dumais.

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Dumais, D., Larouche, C., Raymond, P. et al. Survival and growth dynamics of red spruce seedlings planted under different forest cover densities and types. New Forests 50, 573–592 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-018-9680-2

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