Growth response of unthinned and thinned Douglas-fir stands to single and multiple applications of nitrogen

Abstract

Basal area and volume growth response of unthinned and thinned Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands to single and multiple applications of nitrogen fertilizer were estimated for eight 2-year periods. Response estimates, as differences between growth rates on fertilized and control plots after adjusting for initial volume (or basal area), and trends were analyzed on a regional scale. Average responses to the initial fertilization and to both the second and third fertilizer applications, 8 and 12 years later, were statistically significant (p < 0.05). In thinned stands, average duration of response to the initial treatment was approximately 8 years; unthinned stands continued to show significant volume growth response through 14 years, although basal area growth response decreased to nonsignificant levels between years 10 and 12. In both cases, the response to refertilization, while significant, was smaller than the response to the initial fertilization. Nitrogen applied after the 8th year, and a refertilization after the 12th, on one initially untreated plot at each installation also produced significant average growth responses.