Researcher Finds Lime, Fertilizer Can Improve Forest Regeneration
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
Applying lime and fertilizer to
areas where timber was har
vested can dramatically improve
the regeneration of trees, ac
cording to a researcher in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences, who just completed a
three-year study of new forest
growth in Somerset County.
In a paper published March 5
in the journal Forest Ecology
and Management, Bill Sharpe, a
professor of forest hydrology
who has chronicled the effects of
acid rain in Pennsylvania for
more than two decades, main
tains that soils in many places
have become too acidic to sup
port adequate new growth of
some economically important
species.
“The addition of lime and fer
tilizer in combination with her
bicide appeared to significantly
improve growing conditions and
resulted in taller and more di
verse regeneration,” he says.
The study was conducted in
cooperation with the Pennsylva
nia Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources’ Bureau
of Forestry. But in a finding sure
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agency, Sharpe’s research indi
cated that an herbicide com
monly sprayed in the state to kill
hay-scented ferns to promote
tree growth actually made soils
more acidic and elevated levels
of aluminum, which is toxic to
trees and other plants.
“Use of the herbicide may ac
tually be making things worse,”
says Sharpe, who teamed with
former graduate student Angela
Schreffler on the study. “Chemi
cal measurements of soil water
revealed that the standard prac
tice of herbicide application
alone actually made soil water
more acidic and increased alu
minum concentrations.”
The research was done on
three sites where timber was re
moved in a “shelterwood cut,”
which Sharpe describes as
“standard Bureau of Forestry
practice, leaving quite a few
trees behind to provide seeds for
regeneration.”
The land then was fenced to
keep deer out, and each site was
divided into several research
plots. Some plots received lime
and fertilizer only, others re
ceived herbicide only, and others
got lime, fertilizer and herbicide.
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where no materials were ap
plied.
“Study data revealed that the
benefits of liming were reduced
by the relatively large amounts
of sulfur deposited in forest soils
as a result of many decades of
acid rain,” says Sharpe.
“When herbicides were com
bined with lime and fertilizer
treatments, woody seedling
numbers, diversity and height
growth improved significantly.
Results were not as good for
limed plots without herbicide
treatment due to competition for
growing space. But where ferns
were damaged and partially
eliminated by logging equip
ment, woody seedling growth
was very good.”
An increase of red maple trees
in Pennsylvania forests has been
noted in the last decade, occur
ring at the same time that north
ern red oaks have been
decreasing in prominence, a
trend that concerns many forest
ers.
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Sharpe believes his research
has shown one reason why.
“The red maple is a more acid
tolerant species,” he says. “Re
sidual red maple tended to grow
better on the more acidic
herbicide-only plots. In fact, it
could be argued that the stan
dard red oak shelterwood cut
with herbicide treatment fa
vored red maple growth.”
Pennsylvania is downwind
from the greatest industrial
complex in the world the
Ohio Valley and the state’s
forest soils have been polluted
by acid precipitation originating
from there for many decades.
The acid comes primarily from
sulfur dioxide in the emissions
from coal-fired power plants in
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West
Virginia, and western Pennsyl
vania.
“Pennsylvania long has been
the victim of the most acidic pre
cipitation in North America,”
Sharpe says. “Acid deposition
increases soil water aluminum,
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which is toxic to plants and also
lowers the availability of cal
cium and magnesium, which are
essential elements for plant
growth. We have a forest regen
eration problem and a forest
health problem in Pennsylvania.
“Our research group has been
studying the relationships be
tween these problems and acid
deposition for the past dozen or
so years.
If you argue that the problem
is poor growth due to acid rain
caused soil acidity and loss of
calcium and magnesium, put
ting these nutrients back into
the soil should fix the problem
and indicate that your argument
is correct. In this case, it ap
peared as though soil acidity
was indeed a large part of the
problem.
“The good news is that this
study showed that with appro
priate use of herbicide, lime and
fertilizer, forests can regenerate
very nicely in as little as two or
three growing seasons.”