Nursery production practices affect survival and growth of tropical hardwoods in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract

Tropical forests are endangered from deforestation and overexploitation. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of production practices of the tropical hardwoods, mahogany and Spanish cedar, on survival and early growth in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Mahogany seedlings were grown in polybags and Spanish cedar seedlings were grown in bareroot nursery beds. In addition, seedlings of both species were grown in R–L containers for the outplanting comparison. Fertilization had a minor affect on seedling morphology, but the amount of shade had a strong affect on seedling morphology in the nursery. Following outplanting, initial seedling diameter influenced seedling survival and growth. Survival and growth of Spanish cedar was strongly correlated with initial seedling diameter. Seedlings larger than 4 mm had excellent survival and good growth. Large diameter (>5 mm) mahogany seedlings had exceptional growth, achieving over 4 m in height at 57 months There appeared to be no interaction between stocktype and performance. Polybag mahogany seedlings were larger than containerized seedlings, and grew better. Conversely, containerized cedar seedlings were larger than the bareroot seedlings and performed better. Nearly all the bareroot cedar seedlings had died by 57 months, whereas 50% of the larger containerized seedlings lived. Growth of cedar was less than one-half that of mahogany. Successful reforestation of both species can be accomplished with just small improvements in seedling quality using the conventional systems. Larger seedlings survive and grow better, and on this site, mahogany was superior in performance compared to Spanish cedar.