Eucalyptus recruitment in degraded woodlands: no benefit from elevated soil fertility |
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Authors: | Alison K Skinner Ian D Lunt Sue McIntyre Peter G Spooner Sandra Lavorel |
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Institution: | 1.Institute for Land, Water and Society,Charles Sturt University,Albury,Australia;2.CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems,Canberra,Australia;3.Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, UMR 5553 du CNRS and Station Alpine Joseph Fourier,UMS 2925 du CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier,Grenoble, Cedex 09,France |
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Abstract: | Grasses and forbs compete heavily with young tree seedlings for available resources, greatly reducing tree seedling establishment
success. Soil nutrient enrichment associated with agricultural intensification can increase the growth of both herbaceous
and woody lifeforms growing in isolation, but may change the balance of competitive advantage when growing together. The effects
of nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment on pasture biomass and competition with two Australian grassy woodland trees (Eucalyptus albens and Eucalyptus microcarpa) was investigated in a field plot trial. Soil nutrients increased pasture biomass, but had no measurable effect on tree growth
in our experiment. Competition from pasture species, even at low levels, led to high tree seedling mortality and greatly reduced
tree seedling growth compared with pasture-free plots. However, when pasture-free plots were excluded from the analysis, tree
seedling leaf area was not strongly correlated with herbaceous biomass. Tree seedling establishment was severely restricted
even at the lowest levels of pasture biomass. We conclude that increased soil fertility resulted in a competitive advantage
to the pasture, and does not improve tree seedling establishment when grown either with or without exotic herbaceous pasture
(grassy understorey) species. |
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