Improving forb establishment and restoring soil function in disturbed landscapes: Hitchhiking native forbs with white spruce

• Author / Creator

  Mathison, Adam L

• Changing requirements for land reclamation in Alberta has led to the need for revegetation of disturbed lands with native woody and herbaceous species. Our study involves “Hitchhiker Planting” which is similar to companion cropping in agriculture, with the goal of improving native forb establishment on reclamation sites through mixed-species plugs. This research examined growing white spruce (Picea glauca) in plugs with either fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) or showy aster (Eurybia conspicua). The primary objective of this study was to determine if we could produce a mixed-species container stock that is comparable or better than single species stock in terms of spruce development without negatively affecting forb development. The secondary objectives were to study if the presence of a forb had an effect on vegetation dynamics aboveground, or microbial function belowground; with the comparison of microbial parameters to other landscape-level disturbance types (wildfire and forest harvesting). The main goal of developing a successful mixed-species (hitchhiker) stock type that did not inhibit spruce growth was successful. In general, the stock types in larger containers (615A) and where the forb was introduced 10 weeks or more after the spruce resulted in spruce growth that was comparable or greater than our standard white spruce stock. These stock types also demonstrated consistent performance in the hitchhiked native forb. A reduction in undesirable species cover was not statistically significant, but developing trends indicate we will see future significant effects. Belowground, no consistent hitchhiker effect was observed, which was potentially due to the vegetation community not having had sufficient time to impact the microbial community. Community level physiological profiles however are supported as an effective method for using microbial function to differentiate between sites based on disturbance level. Site conditions and characteristics were an important factor for all soil microbial parameters, with disturbance type having a notable effect, as expected. The potential impact of manganese on sites recovering from industrial disturbance warrants further investigation.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Soil microbial community
  • Fireweed
  • Restoration
  • White spruce
  • Forb
  • Chamerion angustifolium
  • Picea glauca
  • Reclamation
  • Soil function
  • Aster
  • Eurybia conspicua
  • Hitchhiker planting
  • Hitchhiking

• Graduation date

  Spring 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3NS0MC8X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.