Ectomycorrhiza formation and growth of Sitka spruce seedlings on first-rotation forest sites in northern Britain

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Abstract
The potential benefits of inoculation of Piceasitchensis (Bong.) Carr. seedlings with ectomycorrhizal fungi are being explored in trials on two first-rotation forest sites (at Wealside and Gleedlee) in Northumberland. Trials have been initiated on two contrasting soil types at each site, using plants inoculated with isolates of fungi that occur early in the mycorrhizal succession (Hebelomacrustuliniforme (Bull, ex St. Amans) Quélet, H. subsaponaceum Karst., Laccarialaccata (Scop, ex Fr.) Cooke, L. proximo (Boud.) Pat., L. tortilis (Bolt.) S. F. Gray, Paxillusinvolutus (Batsch) Fr., and Thelephoraterrestris Ehrenb. ex Fr.), together with appropriate control treatments. Inoculation treatments produced significant differences in growth on both sites. At Wealside, and on one soil type at Gleedlee, height increment was positively correlated with the proportion of the root system that was mycorrhizal at planting, rather than to the type of inoculum perse. In contrast, on the other soil at Gleedlee, increment was positively correlated with root/shoot ratio at the time of planting, not with mycorrhizal infection. Examination of root systems at Wealside suggested that inoculant fungi could infect new roots on site for at least 4 years and that, despite proximity of established woodland, mycorrhizal formation with indigenous fungi was slow. The data suggest that further work on mycorrhizal inoculation for British forestry and elsewhere is justified.

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