Fertilization of a pole-sized maple stand: 10-year results

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Abstract
A 48-year-old stand of Acersaccharum Marsh. and A. rubrum L. in northeastern Wisconsin, U.S.A., was fertilized with 168 kg/ha (150 lb/acre) of elemental N, P, N + P, or N + P + K in May 1966. Trees were stratified by crown class and initial diameter. Ten-year diameter and basal area growth were evaluated by analysis of covariance with initial plot basal area (IBA) as the covariate and by stepwise multiple regression in hierarchal models. Both diameter and basal area growth were influenced greatly by initial diameter and stand density. IBA accounted for 65% of the variation in diameter growth and 49% of the variation in basal area growth.Fertilization decreased diameter growth and increased mortality of suppressed trees. Pole-sized maples in intermediate and codominant crown positions tended to respond to fertilization with N and N + P but the differences were not statistically significant. Dominant trees grew more than did intermediates or codominants, but fertilization response could not be evaluated. Treatment effects were confounded by widely varied stand and site conditions. Results illustrate conditions likely to be encountered in fertilizing northern hardwoods on an operational scale.

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