Site and fertilizer effects on northern hardwood stump sprouting

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Abstract
Early growth of northern hardwood stump sprouts was studied to determine the short rotation biomass production of coppiced, pole-sized stands. This included studying the effects of fertilizer amendments and site quality on sprout numbers and height as well as biomass. Sprout numbers were related to stump diameter and species, but were independent of site quality and fertilizer additions. Sprout height growth on a stump was independent of numbers and showed increases with site quality. Biomass per stump and per hectare showed increases with N–P–K fertilization on the medium and high sites because of increased available water capacity. Mean annual increments after 4 years ranged from 0.1 Mg ha−1 year−1 on the low site to 1.6 Mg ha−1 year−1 with N–P–K fertilization on the high site. Comparisons of 3- and 4-year-old sprout growth showed large 4th-year biomass increases with periodic annual increments ranging up to 4.8 Mg ha−1 year−1 on the high site N–P–K treatments. Biomass responses to fertilization were for the large part nonsignificant owing to wide variability of biomass on blocks within sites. This may be due to inherent soil factors or large N and K losses following whole-tree harvesting of the original stands.

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