Soil disturbance and juvenile Douglas-fir growth following stump removal on moderately coarse textured soils in southwestern British Columbia: Ten-year results

Mechanized treatment for root diseases like Coniferiporia sulphurascens and Armillaria ostoyae is often avoided due to cost or the perception that removal of stumps creates detrimental soil disturbance or degradation that hinders site productivity. Our study tested five diseased stands that were treated by extracting stumps following harvesting and replanting with susceptible Douglas-fir. Soil disturbance surveys were conducted in treated and untreated plots and individual planted spots were assessed and categorized for soil disturbance using existing and proposed new categories specific to disturbance caused by the stump removal. Tree measurements were taken at intervals over the first 10 years of stand development and foliage was sampled for nutrient analysis. The percentage of total and counted disturbance was 20-46% and 8-11% greater, respectively, in treated versus untreated plots. However, mean tree growth in height and diameter was not statistically different between treatments and was more positive for treated plots at all sites but one. Tree nutrition and survival to age 10 was not negatively affected by stump removal. Total site productivity represented by basal area and tree volume differed widely between sites but was not significantly different between treatments.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author