Skip to main content

Fertilization in Boreal and Temperate Forests and the Potential for Biomass Production

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Forest BioEnergy Production
  • 1426 Accesses

Abstract

Forest fertilization is one of the most efficient methods in forest management to increase the short-term production of biomass. In this context, this chapter provides a brief background of the physiological response of trees to fertilization and increased nutrient availability. Furthermore, we shall describe different fertilization regimes and demonstrate the potentials of fertilization in enhancing biomass production, which will be performed by presenting relevant literature and some unpublished results. This chapter will also elaborate on some ideas for developing fertilization in operational forestry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Albaugh TJ, Allen HL, Dougherty PM, Kress LW, King JS (1998) Leaf area and above- and below ground growth responses of loblolly pine to nutrient and water additions. Forest Sci 44:317–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Albaugh TJ, Bergh J, Lundmark T, Nilsson U, Stape JL, Allen HL, Linder S (2009) Do biological expansion factors adequately estimate stand-scale aboveground component biomass for Norway spruce? Forest Ecol Manage 258:2628–2637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albaugh TJ, Bergh J, Lundmark T, Nilsson U, Stape JL, Allen HL et al (2012) Corrigendum to ‘Do biological expansion factors adequately estimate stand-scale aboveground component biomass for Norway spruce?’ Forest Ecol Manage 270:314 (Forest Ecol Manage 258 (2009) 2628–2637)

    Google Scholar 

  • Albrektson A, Aronsson A, Tamm CO (1977) The effect of forest fertilization on primary production and nutrient cycling in the forest ecosystem. Silva Fenn 11:233–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Balster NJ, Marshall JD (2000) Eight-year responses of light interception, effective leaf area index, and stemwood production in fertilized stands of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca). Can J Forest Res 30:733–743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennet JN, Blevins LL, Barker JE, Blevins DP, Prescott CE (2003) Increases in tree growth and nutrient supply still apparent 10 to 13 years following fertilization and vegetation control of salal-dominated cedar-hemlock stands on Vancouver Island. Can J Forest Res 33:1516–1524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergh J, Linder S, Lundmark T, Elfving B (1999) The effect of water and nutrient availability on the productivity of Norway spruce in northern and southern Sweden. Forest Ecol Manage 119:51–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergh J, Linder S, Bergström J (2005) Potential production for Norway spruce in Sweden. Forest Ecol Manage 204:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergh J, Linder S (2006) Grundläggande försök med balanserad näringstillförsel i ungskog av gran. In: Bergh J, Oleskog G (eds) Slutrapport för fiberskogsprogrammet. Swedish University of agricultural Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre. Rapport 27:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergh J, Nilsson U, Grip H, Hedwall PO, Lundmark T (2008) Effects of frequency of fertilisation on production, foliar chemistry and nutrient leaching in young Norway spruce stands in Sweden. Silva Fenn 42(5):721–733

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonan GB (1993) Importance of leaf area index and forest type when estimating photosynthesis in boreal forests. Remote Sens Environ 43:303–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braekke FH, Salih N (2002) Reliability of foliar analyses of Norway spruce stands in a Nordic gradient. Silva Fenn 36(2):489–504

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockley RP (1990) Response of thinned, immature lodgepole pine to nitrogen and boron fertilization. Can J Forest Res 20:579–585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brockley RP (1992) Effects of fertilization on the nutrition and growth of a slow-growing Engelmann spruce plantation in south central British Columbia. Can J Forest Res 22:1617–1622

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brockley RP (2003) Effects of nitrogen and boron fertilization on foliar boron nutrition and growth in two different lodgepole pine ecosystems. Can J Forest Res 33:988–996

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brockley RP (2007) Effects of 12 years of repeated fertilization on the foliar nutrition and growth of young lodgepole pine in the central interior of British Columbia. Can J Forest Res 37:2115–2129

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brockley RP (2010) Effects of repeated fertilization in a young spruce stand in central British Columbia. Can J Forest Res 40:1687–1697

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cannell MGR (1989) Physiological basis of wood production: a review. Scand J Forest Res 4:459–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chappel HN, Cole DW, Gessel SP, Walker RB (1991) Forest fertilization research and practice in the Pacific Northwest. Fert Res 27:129–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dralle K, Larsen JB (1995) Growth response to different types of NPK-fertilizer in Norway spruce plantations in Western Denmark. Plant Soil 168–169:501–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson T, Kähr M (1993) Growth and nutrition of birch seedlings at varied supply rates of potassium. Trees 7:78–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (2009) Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (Text with EEA relevance). In: European Parliament, C.o.t.M.S. (ed) European Union

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamfeldt L, Snäll T, Bagchi R, Jonsson M, Gustafsson L, Kjellander P et al (2013) Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species. Nat Commun 4(1340):1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison-Johnston MT, Shaw TM, Mika PG, Johnson LR (2005) Management of ponderosa pine nutrition through fertilization. USDA Forest Service General Technical Reports PSW-GTR–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Gessel SP, Miller RE, Cole DW (1990) Relative importance of water and nutrients on the growth of coast Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest. For Ecol Manage 30:327–340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groot A, Brown KM, Morrison IK, Barker JE (1984) A 10-year tree and stand response of jack pine to urea fertilization and low thinning. Can J Forest Res 14:44–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington CA, Wierman CA (1990) Growth and foliar nutrient response to fertilization and precommercial thinning in a coastal red cedar stand. Can J Forest Res 20:764–773

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington CA, Devine WD (2011) Stand development following precommercial thinning and fertilization treatments in a western redcedar (Thuja plicata) dominated forest. Can J Forest Res 41:151–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedwall P-O, Nordin A, Brunet J, Bergh J (2010) Compositional changes of forest-floor vegetation in young stands of Norway spruce as an effect of repeated fertilization. Forest Ecol. Manage 259:2418–2452

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyvönen R, Ã…gren GI, Linder S, Persson T, Cotrufo MF, Ekblad A et al (2007) The likely impact of elevated (CO2), nitrogen deposition, increased temperature and management on carbon sequestration in temperate and boreal forest ecosystems: a literature review. New Phytol 173:463–480

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hyvönen R, Persson T, Andersson S, Olsson B, Ã…gren GI, Linder S (2008) Impact of long-term nitrogen addition on carbon stocks in trees and soils in northern Europe. Biogeochemistry 89:121–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T (1959) Studies on the nutrition of forest tree seedlings. II. Mineral nutrition of spruce. Physiol Plant 12:568–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T (1971) A definition of optimum nutrient requirements in birch seedlings, II. Physiol Plant 24:118–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T (1977) Nitrogen and plant growth; maximum efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers. Ambio 6:146–151

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T (1979a) Mineral nutrient requirements of Pinus sylvestris and Picea abies seedlings. Physiol Plant 45:373–380

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingestad T (1979b) Nitrogen stress in birch seedlings, II. N, K, P, Ca, and Mg nutrition. Physiol Plant 45:149–157

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingerslev M, Mälkönen E, Nilsen P, Nohrstedt H, Óskarsson H, Raulund-Rasmussen K (2001) Main findings and future challenges in forest nutritional research and management in the Nordic countries. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):488–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson S, Nohrstedt H (1993) Effects of repeated nitrogen supply on stem growth and nutrients in needles and soil. Skogforsk, pp 11–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson S, Pettersson F (2001) Growth responses following nitrogen and N–P–K–Mg additions to previously N-fertilized Scots pine and Norway spruce stands on mineral soils in Sweden. Can J Forest Res 31:899–909

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson S, Pettersson F (2010) An assessment of different fertilization regimes in three boreal coniferous stands. Silva Fenn 44(5):815–827

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson DW, Cole DW, Bledsoe CS, Cromack K, Edmonds RL, Gessel SP et al (1982) Nutrient cycling in forests of the Pacific Northwest. In: Edmonds RL (ed) Analysis of coniferous forest ecosystems in the Western United States. Hutchinson Ross, New York, pp 186–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Kishchuk BE, Weetman GF, Brockley RP, Prescott CE (2002) Fourteen-year growth response of young lodgepole pine to repeated fertilization. Can J Forest Res 32:153–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson S, Lundmark T, StÃ¥hl G (2009) Möjligheter till intensivodling av skog. Slutrapport frÃ¥n regeringsuppdrag Jo 2008/1885.2009. ISBN: 978-91-86197-40-7

    Google Scholar 

  • Linder S (1987) Responses to water and nutrition in coniferous ecosystems. In: Schultze E-D, Zwölfer H (eds) Potentials and limitations of ecosystem analysis. Ecol Stud 61:180–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Linder S (1990) Nutritional control of forest yield. The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation Symposia Proceedings 6, Nutrition of Trees, pp 62–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Linder S (1995) Foliar analysis for detecting and correcting nutrient imbalances in Norway spruce. Ecological Bulletins 44:178–190

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Linder S, Axelsson B (1982) Changes in carbon uptake and allocation patterns as a result of irrigation and fertilization in a young Pinus sylvestris stand. In: Waring RH (ed) Carbon uptake and allocation in subalpine ecosystems as a key to management. Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, Corvallis, pp 38–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindkvist A, Kardell Ö, Nordlund C (2011) Intensive forestry as progress or decay? An analysis of the debate about forest fertilization in Sweden, 1960–2010. Forests 2:112–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller HG (1988) Long-term effects of application of nitrogen fertilizers on forest sites. In: Cole DW, Gessel SP (eds) Forest site evaluation and long-term productivity. University of Washington, Seattle, pp 97–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Möller G (1992) The Scandinavian experience in forest fertilization research and operations. In: Chappel HN, Weetman GF, Miller RE (eds) Forest fertilization: sustaining and improving nutrition and growth of western forests. College of Forest Resources, University Washington, Seattle, pp 251–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton PF, Amponsah IG (2006) Systematic review of short-term growth responses of semi-mature black spruce and jack pine stands to nitrogen-based fertilization treatments. Forest Ecol Manage 237:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen P (2001) Fertilization experiments on forest mineral soils: a review of the Norwegian results. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):541–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen P, Abrahamsen G (2003) Scots pine and Norway spruce stands responses to annual N, P and Mg fertilization. Forest Ecol Manage 174:221–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson U, Fahlvik N (2006) Ekonomisk analys av praktisk produktionsoptimering i granplanteringar (Economical analysis of operational use of nutrient optimisation in young stands of Norway spruce). In: Bergh J, Oleskog G (eds) Slutrapport för fiberskogsprogrammet. SLU, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre. Rapport 27:1–17. ISBN 91-576-7161-3

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson U, Fahlvik N, Johansson U, Lundström A, Rosvall O (2011) Simulation of the effect of intensive forest management on forest production in Sweden. Forests 2:373–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nohrstedt H-Ö (2001) Response of coniferous forest ecosystems on mineral soils to nutrient additions: a review of Swedish experiences. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):555–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Óskarsson H, Sigurgeirsson A (2001) Fertilization in Icelandic afforestation: evaluation of results. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):536–540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranius T, Roberge J-M (2011) Effects of intensified forestry on the landscape-scale extinction risk of dead wood dependent species. Biodivers Conserv 20:2867–2882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ring E (2004) Experimental N fertilization of Scots pine: effects on soil-solution chemistry 8 years after final felling. Forest Eco Manage 188:91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberntz P, Stockfors J (1998) Net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and respiration of mature Norway spruce foliage under CO2 enrichment and different nutrient regimes. Tree Physiol 18:233–241

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Routa J, Kellomäki S, Strandman H, Bergh J, Pulkkinen P, Peltola H (2013) The timber and energy biomass potential of intensively managed cloned Norway spruce stands. Glob Change Biol Bioenergy 5(1):43–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saarsalmi A, Mälkönen E (2001) Forest fertilization research in Finland: a literature review. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):514–535

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson DA, Allen HL (1999) Regional influences of soil available water-holding capacity and climate, and leaf area index on simulated loblolly pine productivity. Forest Ecol Manage 124:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sathre R, Gustavsson L, Bergh J (2010) Greenhouse gas implications of increased biomass production from optimised forest fertilization. Biomass Bioenerg 34:572–581

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swedish Forest Agency (2011) Swedish statistical yearbook of forestry pp 1–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone EL (1990) Boron deficiency and excess in forest trees: a review. Forest Ecol Manage 37:49–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundberg M (2010) Är bor nödvändigt vid skogsgödsling i Sverige? Is boron necessary in Swedish forest fertilization? Master thesis, Institutionen för sydsvensk skogsvetenskap, lantbruksuniversitet, Sveriges, p 154

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamm CO (1991) Nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. Questions of productivity, vegetational change and ecosystem stability. Ecol Stud 81:1–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamm CO, Aronsson A, Popovic B, Flower-Ellis J (1999) Optimum nutrition and nitrogen saturation in Scots pine stands. Studia Forestalia Suecica 206:1–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner J, Lambert MJ (1986) Nutrition and nutritional relationships of Pinus radiata. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 17:325–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vejre H, Ingerslev M, Raulund-Rasmussen K (2001) Fertilization of Danish forests: a review of experiments. Scand J Forest Res 16(6):502–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johan Bergh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bergh, J., Hedwall, PO. (2013). Fertilization in Boreal and Temperate Forests and the Potential for Biomass Production. In: Kellomäki, S., Kilpeläinen, A., Alam, A. (eds) Forest BioEnergy Production. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8391-5_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics