Effect of fertilization on the biomass production of coppiced mixed birch and willow stands on a cut-away peatland

摘要

This investigation deals with the biomass production of coppiced mixed birch and willow stands growing on a peat cut-away area at Aitoneva, Kihnio (62 deg 12`N, 23 deg 18`E), Finland. The 16-year-old stands were harvested and left to coppice for 14 years, fertilization experiment (control, PK and wood ash fertilization) with three replications was established after the clear cutting. The mother stands before clear cutting (11,000 stems per hectare on average) were dominated by silver birch (69 of the stem number). After clear cutting the number of stems rose 7-fold to 75 500 stems ha~-1. Now the stands were dominated by Betula pubescens with 46 out of the total stem number, the share of B.pendula being only 25 and with Salix spp 29. At the age of 14 years self-thinning had decreased the stem number to 12,800 stems ha~-1. The leafless biomass production of the coppiced stands on the control plots was lower than that of the seed originated mother stands had been during the previous rotation.