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Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on the growth and nutrition of hybrid poplars on Vancouver Island

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Abstract

The effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) rates, P source, and method of P application were tested on growth and nutrition of four clones of hybrid poplar (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray × P. deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh or P. trichocarpa×P. maximowiczii A. Henry) in a plantation on Vancouver Island. Treatments were applied shortly after planting. Nitrogen (0, 500 kg N ha−1) was supplied as ammonium sulfate (AS); half of the AS was added at the start of the second growing season. Phosphorus (0, 100, 200 kg P ha−1) was supplied as triple super phosphate (TSP), rock phosphate (RP), or diammonium phosphate (DAP) and banded or broadcast. Over four growing seasons, stem volumes increased with AS and P additions. The effects of AS and P each were greatest when the other was also added. Volume was greater when P was applied at 100 kg ha−1 than in the P control and did not significantly increase further at 200 kg P ha−1. Phosphorus additions were more effective when added as TSP or DAP than when added as RP, but only in P100 and when banded. Banding increased volume when P was applied at 200 kg ha−1, but increases were significant only for DAP fertilized trees. Roto-tilling associated with the banding treatment also increased volume when AS and P were not added. Rankings of clones with respect to stem volume varied with N supply and changed over time.

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Brown, K.R., van den Driessche, R. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on the growth and nutrition of hybrid poplars on Vancouver Island. New Forest 29, 89–104 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-004-5418-4

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