SREL Reprint #2735

Production of short-rotation woody crops grown with a range of nutrient and water availability: establishment report and first-year responses

Mark D. Coleman1, David R. Coyle1, J. Blake2, Kerry O. Britton3, M. Buford4, R. G. Campbell5, J. Cox6,
B. Cregg7, D. Daniels8, M. Jacobson9, Kurt Johnsen10, Timothy McDonald11, K. McLeod12, E. Nelson13,
D. Robison6, R. Rummer14, F. Sanchez10, John A. Stanturf3, B. Stokes4, Carl Trettin15, J. Tuskan16,
L. Wright17, and S. Wullschleger16

1USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, New Ellenton, SC
2USDA Forest Service, Savannah River, New Ellenton, SC
3USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Athens, GA
4USDA Forest Service, Vegetation Management and Protection Research, Washington, DC
5Southern Productivity Research, Weyerhaeuser Corporation, New Bern, NC
6Department of Forestry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
7Department of Horticulture and Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
8D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
9Forest Productivity, Plum Creek Timber Company, Watkinsville, GA
10USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Research Triangle Park, NC
11Biosystems Engineering Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
12Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC
13Environmental Sciences and Technology Department, Savannah River Technology Center, New Ellenton, SC
14USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Auburn, AL
15USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Charleston, SC
16Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
17National Bioenergy Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN

Abstract: Many researchers have studied the productivity potential of intensively managed forest plantations. However, we need to learn more about the effects of fundamental growth processes on forest productivity; especially the influence of aboveground and belowground resource acquisition and allocation. This report presents installation, establishment, and first-year results of four tree species (two cottonwood clones, sycamore, sweetgum, and loblolly pine) grown with fertilizer and irrigation treatments. At this early stage of development, irrigation and fertilization were additive only in cottonwood clone ST66 and sweetgum. Leaf area development was directly related to stem growth, but root production was not always consistent with shoot responses, suggesting that allocation of resources varies among treatments. We will evaluate the consequences of these early responses on resource availability in subsequent growing seasons. This information will be used to: (1) optimize fiber and bioenergy production; (2) understand carbon sequestration; and (3) develop innovative applications such as phytoremediation; municipal, industrial, and agricultural wastes management; and protection of soil, air, and water resources.

Keywords: Allocation, fertigation, fine-root growth, intensive management, interspecitic comparisons, leaf area

SREL Reprint #2735

Coleman, M. D., D. R. Coyle, J. Blake, K. Britton, M. Buford, R. G. Campbell, J. Cox, B. Cregg, D. Daniels, M. Jacobson, K. Johnsen, T. McDonald, K. McLeod, E. Nelson, D. Robison, R. Rummer, F. Sanchez, J. Stanturf, B. Stokes, C. Trettin, J. Tuskan, L. Wright, and S. Wullschleger. 2004. Production of short-rotation woody crops grown with a range of nutrient and water availability: establishment report and first-year responses. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-72. Ashville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).