Field Performance of Nutrient Loaded Red Oak and White Oak Seedlings on Mine Lands in Southern Indiana By K. Francis Salifu Douglass F. Jacobs and Zonda Birge

What to Expect  Poor seedling quality, severe competition and low site fertility are key factors that may limit restoration success on mine sites  Nursery fertilization can be used to produce high quality seedlings to improve restoration success  Discuss how nursery treatments affect seedling field performance on a mine site in Indiana

Nutrient Loading Building nutrient reserves in seedlings during nursery culture to promote retranslocation and growth when out- planted in the field

Simplified N Cycle in Forest N2N2N2N2 Organic N M= Mineralization I= Immobilization INTERNAL EXTERNAL Le NH 4 + NO 3 - NO 2 - Fertilizer Litter N fixation I M Nitrification Denitrification U

Annual N Demand Met by Retranslocation Tree species N retranslocation (%) (Turner 1975; Miller 1984; Lim and Cousens 1986; Salifu and Timmer 2003)

Exponential vs. Conventional Fertilization Weekly application N applied (mg/seedling) (Ingestad & Lund 1986; Timmer 1997)

How Much Fertilizer Do Plants Need? Dry mass or N concentration Nutrient supply Seedling N content Biomass Nutrient content n f l Sufficiency Toxicity Luxury consumption Deficiency Nutrient loading Nutrient concentration e Optimum (Timmer 1997)

Fertilization Schedule (g N per plant)

Bareroot Production Week g N plant -1 White oak Red oak

Week 18 Red oak

Growth and N Storage White oak Red oak Birge et al End of Nursery Phase

Field Trial

Methods Evaluated: Deer Fence Species at 2 levels Nursery fertility at 10 levels Design = Split-plot design Replications = 5 blocks Blocks separated by 2m buffers Trees Planted at 1m within rows and 2m between rows

Schematic of Field Study N ROWO B1B2B3B4B5 Species NurseryFertility m 42m

2500 trees on 5 ha Planted 2004

Field Sampling  At Planting  Basal diameter  Height  Nutritional analysis  Year-1  Basal diameter  Height  Survival  Nutritional analysis  Year-2  Basal diameter  Height  Survival

Field Survival Percentage survival Nursery Treatments Red Oak White Oak **

Field Survival vs. Conser. Plantings Percentage survival Jacobs et al Plantings /Species

Red Oak Height Height (cm) Nursery Treatments * * *

Red Oak Diameter Diameter (mm) Nursery Treatments * * *

Nursery Fertility Treatments White Oak Seedling Response: N Status N content (mg component -1 ) Pre-Plant Year-One Conventional vs. Exponential regimes

Conclusions  Nutrient loading improved seedling field performance on mine sites  The nutrient loading model is a useful tool for quantifying fertility targets, and may help improve nutrient diagnosis in tree seedling culture  Vallonia nursery and ArborAmerica have adapted the proposed protocol

Future Directions  Rigorously test nutrient loading using balanced fertilizers and with more species  Weekly applications could benefit production systems  Increases uptake efficiency and minimizes leaching losses  Controlled-release fertilization at outplanting  Weed control measures

Acknowledgements  USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry  van Eck Forestry Foundation  HTIRC at Purdue University  IN-DNR Division of Reclamation  Ron Overton, Area Regeneration Specialist, USDA Forest Service  Don Carlson, Extension Forester, HTIRC, Purdue University  Jim Wichman, Nursery Manager, IN-DNR Vallonia and Jasper Pulaski State Nurseries  Jim McKenna, Operation Breeder, HTIRC, Purdue University

Thank You! QUESTIONS?