An analysis of growth, growth increments, and the integration of growth increments in a fertilizer test of Picea engelmannii in south-central British Columbia

Abstract

This study describes a 3-year study of growth in seedlings of Picea engelmannii planted in south-central British Columbia in 1986. Four different seedlots were used and each was subjected to six different levels of fertilization in the nursery and two on planting in the field; they were planted in three blocks. The seedlots planted as well as the interaction between blocks and the seedlots planted had a significant effect on seedling survival. The seedlot that showed the lowest rate of survival was the one displaced upward approximately 1180 m from its origin. The largest seedlings on planting, and in 1989, were from the same seedlot that showed the lowest rate of survival. Despite having the largest seedlings, that seedlot did not have the highest rate of growth. The greatest amount of variation in size, growth rate, and increments of growth is within each combination of treatments. Fertilization in the field was the experimental factor that had a consistent effect on growth and size, aside from size on planting where seedlot and nursery treatment were important. Field fertilizer treatments affected the integration of increments of growth in height and diameter. This treatment also affects energy flow through plants by its impact on growth rate, thus arguing for a correlation between the flows of energy and information. We are unsure if this correlation is causal or casual. Key words: growth rate, integration, Picea engelmannii trials.