An ecophysiological basis for understanding plantation establishment

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Abstract
Forest plantations in the early stages of establishment are considered as hierarchical biological systems, and some implications for the design of research projects and the education of regeneration foresters and scientists are discussed. Since less than optimum environmental conditions convey stress to seedlings, seedlings will in turn exhibit a strain response at either the biochemical, physiological, or morphological level. Environmental conditions in a clear-cut are contrasted with other regeneration niches, and implications for the performance of different plantation species are discussed. The important physiological and biochemical limitations on the absorption of water, nitrogen, and carbon by seedlings during their establishment phase are described. Methods of quantifying stress at the plantation site, including simple ways to separate seedling growth into its different physiological components, are shown. An example of an eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) plantation grown under different levels of soil temperature, fertilization, and brush control is presented to illustrate the concepts. An approach to silvicultural research is proposed that determines the effects of silvicultural treatment on the seedling environment and then relates these environmental conditions to seedling biochemistry, physiology, and growth.