Early vegetation establishment, tree growth performance, and tree canopy development are very important factors in forest restoration since they create the foundation of forest ecosystems. Previous research has shown that higher microsite variability on early reclaimed sites increases the expression of the native propagule bank (Melnik et al. 2017). However, the longer-term effects of introducing a wide range of microsites when planning forest restoration is a topic that has been overlooked.
This research project examines the early development of vegetation establishment as well as the tree growth on two operational scale forest reclamation sites (south-facing and east-facing slopes) treated with different microtopographic treatments: flat(control), ridged, and hilled, which offer an increase in microsite availability, respectively. These treatments explore the role of microtopography on land reclamation sites as a driver of plant colonization and community development. This information will help to further our understanding of surface soil conditions using different forest reclamation techniques. This project is divided into two major sections in response to different microtopography treatments: tree growth performance of 4-year-old planted seedlings (trembling aspen, jack pine and white spruce) and the establishment of the site vegetation community. |
The hypothesis of this study is that increasing microsite variability and availability on restored sites should increase plant species diversity and improve tree growth 4 years after site construction.
Early results showed that the south slope had significantly different vegetation communities growing between each of the treatments when compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, there was a decrease in ruderal species, and forest species became more prevalent in sites with higher microtopography. Similarly to vegetation results, the tree growth response was much stronger on the south slope than on the east slope. Planted trees show an increase in height in the hilled and ridged treatment compared to the control treatment. Trembling aspen and jack pine show to be significantly taller in both the hilled and ridged treatment compared to the control treatment. These results could explain the effect of implementing microtopography on forest restoration sites. Increasing the microsite variability on future land reclamation sites could be very beneficial for sites that project stressed growing conditions and high vegetation competition problems, all while maintaining desired forest vegetation establishment. Additionally, an increase of microtopography also offers optimal growing conditions for planted seedlings. |