Silvicultural manipulation and site effect on above and belowground biomass equations for young Pinus radiata

Abstract

There is little understanding of how silvicultural treatments, during the early stages of tree development, affect allometric relationships. We developed and compared stem, branch, foliage, coarse and fine root biomass, and leaf area estimation equations, for four-year-old genetically improved radiata pine trees grown on three contrasting soil-site conditions. At each site, selected trees were destructively sampled from a control (shovel planted, no weed control, fertilized with 2 g of boron), a shovel planted + weed control (2 first years) + complete fertilization (nitrogen + phosphorus + boron 2 first years + potassium 2nd year), and a soil tillage (subsoil at 60 cm) + weed control (first 2 years) + complete fertilization treatment. Tissues were separated into foliage, branch, stem, fine and coarse roots (>2 mm). Regression equations for each tree biomass tissue versus leaf area were fit for each site and compared among treatments and sites with the same genetic material. Our results indicated that individual tree biomasses for young plantations are affected by silvicultural treatment and site growing conditions. Higher variability in estimates was found for foliage and branches due to the ephemeral nature of these components. Stem biomass equations vary less, but differences in biomass equations were found among sites and treatments. Coarse root biomass estimates were variable but less than expected, considering the gradient among sites. Similar to stem biomass, a simple positive general linear relationship between root collar diameter, or diameter at breast height with coarse roots biomass was developed across sites and treatments.