Interactions Between

White Spruce and Shrubby

Alders at Three Boreal

Forest Sites in Alaska

Tricia L. Wurtz

United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

General Technical 

Report

PNW-GTR-481

January 2000
Author Tricia L. Wurtz is a research ecologist, Institute of Northern Forestry Cooperative

Research Unit, Pacific Northwest Research Station, P.O. Box 756780, University of

Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6780. This is the final report on grant number

91-1-041 from the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation.

On the cover: Distribution of green alder (Alnus crispa (Ait.) Pursh) stems (light green circles)

that occurred in the understory of a mature boreal forest stand at Trapper Creek, Alaska, overlain with postharvest plantation of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings (darker green symbols). The estimated aboveground biomass of each alder stem is represented by

circle diameter, and the size of spruce symbols represents seedling height growth during the

first 3 years after planting. The growth of the spruce seedlings was not related to preharvest

alder stem locations. In this figure, only the 25 measured seedlings per plot are shown; the

plots lacking spruce seedlings entirely are natural regeneration plots. Alders planted with

spruce in some of the plots are not shown.
Wurtz, Tricia L. 2000 Interactions between white spruce and shrubby alders at three

boreal forest sites in Alaska. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-481. Portland, OR: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 29 p.

To document possible soil nitrogen mosaics before timber harvesting on three boreal

forest sites in Alaska, maps of the distribution of understory green (Alnus crispa (Ait.)

Pursh) and Sitka alder (A. sitchensis (Reg.) Rydb.) stems were made. Understory

alders were regularly distributed throughout the northernmost site (Standard Creek)

and very irregularly distributed at the southernmost site (Cooper Landing). No consistent relations existed between alder stem location and total soil nitrogen. In undisturbed forest, soils collected beneath alders tended to have more nitrogen than soils

without alder, but after the sites were harvested, soil chemistry differed. To examine

the interactions of alder and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) on secondary

successional sites, mixed plantations of white spruce and alder were established after

each site was harvested. Despite good survival, the planted alder grew poorly. No

differences were found between nursery-grown alder seedlings and alder wildlings in

either growth or survival. Although fifth-year survival and growth of white spruce were

excellent on all sites, they were not related to either the preharvest distribution of naturally occurring alder or to alders planted in the mixed plantations. Locational information and site maps are provided for future evaluation of these plantations.

Keywords: White spruce, green alder, Sitka alder, boreal forest, interior Alaska,

mixed-species plantations, nitrogen fixation, alder wildlings, long-term ecosystem

productivity.

Although alders are ecologically important in the boreal forest, their role in managed

forest systems has received little attention. This study examined several aspects of

the interactions between two shrubby alder species (Alnus crispa (Ait.) Pursh) and A.

sitchensis (Reg.) Rydb.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), the primary

commercial species in the boreal forest of Alaska. First, I mapped the alder stems

that occurred naturally in the understory of three mature forest stands and collected

soil from beneath alder clumps and from beneath other typical types of vegetation for

each site. Soils also were collected after each site was harvested. In undisturbed forest, soils collected beneath alders tended to have more total nitrogen than soils without alder, but after the sites were harvested, soil chemistry differed by soil horizon

and site. Alaska’s boreal forest soils are relatively infertile. Because mixed plantations

of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and red alder (Alnus rubra

Bong.) have increased the productivity of nutrient-poor sites in the Pacific Northwest,

I established mixed plantations of white spruce and alder in the three sites. Four different distance and species-ratio combinations were planted, as well as spruce-only

plots and natural regeneration plots in which no seedlings were planted. After 5 years,

survival and growth of white spruce were excellent on all sites but were not related to

either the preharvest distribution of naturally occurring alder or to alders planted in the

mixed plantations. I had hypothesized that alders planted with spruce seedlings might

Abstract

Summary
produce enough shade to slow the spread of the grass Calamagrostis canadensis

and other species that colonize newly harvested sites. But the planted alder grew

slowly; it had no effect on the percentage of cover of other plant species. From this

5-year perspective, mixed plantations of spruce and alder are not justified for forest

management operations on the types of sites examined in this study. Whether they

are justified from a long-term, multiple-rotation perspective remains to be seen. Toward

that end, locational information, site maps, and early data summaries are provided for

future evaluation of these plantations. Finally, alders are sometimes planted in siterestoration projects, and the present study used both nursery-grown, containerized

alder seedlings and alder wildlings. I found no differences in the survival or growth of

these two types of alder seedlings, thereby suggesting wildlings may be an inexpensive option for restoration projects involving alder.
Alders are among the most common and widespread shrubs species in the boreal

forest. They are ecologically important, fixing atmospheric nitrogen and turning it over

rapidly to the soil. Conversely, white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) forests

and other northern conifer ecosystems are known to be nitrogen limited (Van Cleve

and Zasada 1976, Weetman 1968, Yarie et al. 1990). Spruce litter decays slowly and

releases nitrogen slowly. Spruce plantations established in eastern Canada between

1920 and 1932 show a growth decline beginning about 1970 that has been attributed

to a gradual acidification of the soil and depression of soil nitrogen availability by litter

(Brand et al. 1986, Hendrickson 1990, Pastor et al. 1987). Nutrition is an important

factor in the early growth of planted spruce as well. Poor performance of planted

spruce is a common problem in interior British Columbia (Ballard 1985, Swift and

Brockley 1994). Harvesting itself can deplete the nutrient reserves of a site. Weetman

and Webber (1972) documented the nitrogen losses caused by full-tree harvesting of

red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) in

eastern Canada, and found that on sites with little humus, full-tree harvesting can

deplete nutrient reserves to the extent that fertilization would be needed in the second rotation. Bormann and Gordon (1989) modeled the nitrogen dynamics of several

silvicultural systems and found that short-rotation, whole-tree harvest systems are not

self-sufficient in nitrogen, unless they include an active biological nitrogen-fixation

component. Despite these findings, the role of alders in managed white spruce forests

has received little attention. This study examines the role of naturally occurring understory alders and the use of planted alders in the regeneration of harvested white

spruce stands.

This study had three objectives:

1. To determine whether shrubby alders occurring naturally in the understory of

mature forests create localized nitrogen hot spots in the soil that improve the growth

of white spruce seedlings planted after the site is harvested.

2. To determine whether spruce trees planted in mixtures with shrubby alder grow differently than trees in spruce-only plantations.

3. To determine whether alders included in mixed-species plantations might prevent

other, less favorable competitors from colonizing and dominating a site.

Alders (Alnus spp.) are the primary nitrogen-fixing species in Alaska’s boreal forests.

Alders drive the soil nitrogen dynamics and influence various other aspects of soil

development in most successional sequences in the boreal forest regions of the state

(Reynolds 1990, Van Cleve and Viereck 1981). Three shrub species of alder occur in

Alaska: Sitka alder (Alnus sinuata (Reg.) Rydb.), thinleaf alder (A. tenuifolia Nutt.,

sometimes referred to as A. incana (L.)), and green alder (A. crispa (Ait.) Pursh).

On primary successional sites on the Tanana River flood plain, alders and willows

(Salix spp.) colonize newly deposited surfaces quickly; after 10 years, there may be

as many as 40,000 stems per acre (100,000 stems per ha) (Van Cleve and Viereck

1981). During this time, nitrogen can accumulate in the soil at a rate of 320 pounds •

acre-1 • year -1 (360 kg • ha-1 • yr-1) (Van Cleve et al. 1971). The dominant role of

alders continues for the first 60 to 80 years of flood-plain succession, until the balsam

poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), and later white spruce, canopies close overhead.

Introduction

1

Alder in Unmanaged

Boreal Forest Stands
Then, though their abundance and vigor decline, alders persist in the understory.

Individual alder stems can be long lived (Wilson et al. 1985); the oldest stem for

which age was determined in the present study was 75 years old. As individual stems

mature and die back, new ones sprout from the same root crown.

On upland sites in interior Alaska, the most common disturbance is wildfire. In such

secondary successional sequences, alders occur as a scattered shrub layer beneath

paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) and aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.). They

reach their greatest influence 50 to 100 years after fire. Soil nitrogen reserves double

during this period (Van Cleve and Viereck 1981). As the upland forest becomes dominated by white spruce, the importance of alder declines. But just as on flood-plain

sites, alders on upland sites persist throughout the later stages of succession as

common, though scattered, components of the understory.

Not all alders found in the understory of mature forests originated in an earlier successional stage. New individuals can establish from seed where localized disturbances

such as windthrow have exposed mineral soil (Gilbert and Payette 1982) and created

openings in the canopy. These new establishment events, however, seem infrequent

(Huenneke 1987, Huenneke and Marks 1987). For the most part, alder stems in the

understory of mature boreal forests are the most recent aboveground generation of a

genetic individual that has occupied that spot for decades or even centuries.

Few studies have considered the effects of shrubby alders on ecosystem nitrogen

dynamics during their later understory stages. In a comparison of jack pine (Pinus

banksiana Lamb.) stands in Canada with and without understory alder, Vogel and

Gower (1998) found that stands with alder have fewer overstory stems per acre (stems

per ha) but more overstory basal area than stands without alder. Overstory leaf area

index, total ecosystem carbon content, and average aboveground net primary productivity all were greater in stands with understory alder than in stands lacking alder. Van

Cleve et al. (1986) attributed the relatively high nitrogen supply on the balsam poplar

forest floor in Alaska to the widespread occurrence of green alders in the understory

of the site. Berg and Doerksen (1975) studied a heavily thinned stand of Douglas-fir

(Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) where red alders (Alnus rubra Bong.) had

germinated naturally and occupied the understory until the canopy of the thinned

stand closed above them. They estimated that the alders added 780 pounds per acre

(873 kg per ha) of nitrogen to the soil over a 17-year period. Binkley (1982) studied

the effects of naturally occurring red and Sitka alder on developing Douglas-fir stands

and found that the Sitka alder added 31 pounds • acre-1 • year-1 (35 kg • ha-1 • yr-1) of

nitrogen to the site for a period of 23 years. Douglas-fir stem growth was 40 percent

greater on sites with Sitka alder than on sites without it. Alders contribute this nitrogen

to the soil through direct secretions from their roots and nodules (Zavitkovski and

Newton 1968), and through the production of nitrogen-rich leaf litter (Radwan et al.

1984, Van Cleve et al. 1971). In one study, the experimental addition of alder leaves

to a degenerated forest soil produced a substantial gain in total soil nitrogen (HussDanell and Lundmark 1988). Litter falling from a jack pine overstory was richer in

nitrogen in stands where green alders occurred in the understory than in stands without alder (Vogel and Gower 1998).

2
I hypothesized that the soil beneath a mature white spruce stand might be a mosaic

of soil nitrogen hot spots mirroring the distribution of long-lived shrubby alders on that

site. If this soil mosaic persisted after timber harvest, it likely would affect the growth

of spruce seedlings planted there. Seedlings planted on a spot formerly occupied by

an alder might be less nitrogen limited and grow better than seedlings planted where

no alder existed previously. This led to the first goal of this study, to determine whether

shrubby alders occurring naturally in the understory of mature forests create localized

nitrogen hot spots in the soil that improve the growth of white spruce seedlings planted after the site is harvested.

Unlike the shrubby alders of the boreal forest region of Alaska, red alder is a fastgrowing species that can reach a height of 70 feet (21 m) in 30 years (Atterbury 1978,

Harrington et al. 1994). It occurs in southeast Alaska, coastal British Columbia,

Washington, Oregon, and California. Although red alder was viewed as a weed

species for many years, over the last 20 years, a major industry has developed

around its utilization. In 1991, about 475 million board feet of red alder were harvested from Oregon and Washington (Tarrant et al. 1994). This dramatic increase in utilization has increased interest in mixing red alder in plantations with Douglas-fir.

Miller and Murray (1978) studied a mixed plantation of red alder and Douglas-fir on

a nitrogen-deficient site in southwestern Washington. Douglas-fir seedlings were

planted in 1928, and red alder seedlings were interplanted 4 years later. (The delay

was intended to prevent the alders from immediately overtopping the Douglas-fir and

suppressing their early growth.) Over the next 48 years, the presence of red alder

significantly increased the height of the Douglas-fir. Fifty-six percent of the Douglas-fir

survived in the pure stand, as opposed to only 38 percent in the mixed stand. Yet the

fir trees in the mixed stand were larger, including 50 trees per acre (123 trees per ha)

in the 12-inches (30-cm) or larger diameter class. The pure stand of Douglas-fir had

no trees over 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter. In the mixed stand, alders also reached

saw timber size, with an average of 14 trees per acre (34 trees per ha) reaching the

12-inch (30-cm) diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) class. Based on their reconstruction

of the growth of these stands, Miller and Murray suggest that Douglas-fir had begun

emerging from the alder canopy when they were 30 years old. They stress that alders

are most likely to increase conifer growth where soils are deficient in nitrogen and

recommend including 20 to 40 uniformly distributed red alder seedlings per acre (50

to 100 seedlings per ha) in Douglas-fir plantations.

Such experiences with red alder and Douglas-fir in the Pacific Northwest led to the

mixed-species plantation part of this study. Although the shrubby alders of the boreal

forest have no commercial value, they are similar to red alder in their nitrogen-fixing

capability. Shrubby alders likely would overtop white spruce early on, but because of

their short stature, they would be unlikely to suppress the spruce for long. Harrington

and Deal (1982) examined the juvenile height growth of Sitka alder and determined it

is a reasonable candidate for mixtures with Douglas-fir. Thus, the second goal of this

study, to determine whether spruce trees planted in mixtures with shrubby alder grow

differently than trees in spruce-only plantations.

Alder in MixedSpecies Plantations

3
On many sites in the boreal forest of Alaska, the biggest obstacle to the successful

regeneration of white spruce after timber harvest is competition from the grass

Calamagrostis canadensis (Michx.) Beauv. (Eis 1981, Hauessler and Coates 1986,

Hogg and Lieffers 1991). Small amounts of Calamagrostis occur naturally in openings

of mature white spruce forests (Reynolds 1990, Viereck et al. 1983). When the trees

are harvested, this grass spreads rapidly via a network of roots and rhizomes; this

aggressive growth is most likely triggered by a sudden increase in available light

(Powelson and Lieffers 1992). Calamagrostis can dominate a harvested site in 3 or 4

years, accounting for 70 percent of the plant cover present, and producing a thick,

impenetrable belowground mat. In the Trapper Creek area of south-central Alaska,

Calamagrostis can grow to 6 feet (1.8 m) tall; when the grass dies back at the end of

summer, it effectively buries the crop trees beneath it. Slow-growing spruce seedlings

cannot survive in this severely competitive environment.

Alders also can grow rapidly. On good sites, red alder seedlings can reach breast

height in the first year after germinating; 3 to 4 years are required on poorer sites

(Harrington and Curtis 1986). Five-year-old alder saplings can be 20 to 26 feet (7 to

8 m) tall (DeBell and Hibbs, summarized in Puettman 1994; Harrington et al. 1994).

In interior Alaska, both green and thinleaf alders rapidly colonize new roadsides and

gravel pits. Green alder wildlings collected along roadsides grew rapidly after being

planted in a tilled agricultural field and kept free of competing vegetation (Wurtz

1995a). In the first year after planting, the wildlings doubled or tripled in height, and

in the second year, many doubled again. At the same time, they were sprouting vigorously from the base of the main stem, so that after 3 years, individual plants had

as many as 10 stems curving out and up from the base and a dense, rounded

growth form.

Although dense stands of Calamagrostis can prevent spruce from becoming established in a secondary successional site, white spruce seems to tolerate competition

from alder. In many boreal forest successional sequences, white spruce grows naturally beneath a canopy of shrubby alder for years before gradually overtopping it and

becoming the dominant species (Van Cleve and Viereck 1981).

Eis (1981) studied the vegetative colonization of four harvested white spruce sites in

central British Columbia supporting both thinleaf (A. tenuifolia Nutt.) and Sitka alders.

For an alluvium-type site, he noted that “areas not occupied by shrubs, including old

skid roads, were overgrown by thick mats of grasses, mainly Calamagrostis neglecta,

C. canadensis, Carex rostrata, and Cinna latifolia.”

These observations led to the third goal of this study, to determine whether alders

included in a mixed-species plantations might prevent other, less favorable competitors

from colonizing and dominating a site. In particular, I wondered whether the shade

from alders planted adjacent to spruce seedlings would prevent Calamagrostis from

surrounding and overcoming individual spruce. Shady areas around alder seedlings

might generate Calamagrostis-free zones and could functionally replace a severe

competitor with a moderate one.

This study is being conducted at three sites along a north-south transect through central Alaska. The northernmost site, Standard Creek, is 15 miles (25 km) southwest of

Fairbanks, with mean annual temperature of 26 °F (-3.2 °C) and mean annual precipitation of 10 inches (26.5 cm) (fig. 1). It is part of the “Eastern interior Alaska zone” of

4

Methods

Alder as a Competitor

With Other Vegetation
the Northern Forest Formation (Zasada and Packee 1995). The site is on a gentle

southeast-facing slope. Before harvesting, it supported a mature, productive “closed

white spruce forest” (Viereck et al. 1992) with paper birch and occasional balsam

poplar. Green alder was a major component of the understory, reaching a height of

16 feet (5 m). Other common understory plants were low-bush cranberry (Vaccinium

vitis-idaea L.), fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium L.), Calamagrostis, highbush cranberry (Viburnum edule (Michx.) Raf.), and rose (Rosa acicularis Lindl.). Soils at

Standard Creek are well drained, moderately deep silty loams, with a parent material

of micaceous loess underlain by Birch Creek schist (Rieger et al. 1963) The mature

late-successional white spruce stand at Standard Creek was likely to persist until the

next major disturbance event—wildfire, insect infestation, or timber harvesting. Sites

such as Standard Creek are currently the main focus of timber harvesting operations

in the Fairbanks area.

5

1

Figure 1—The Standard Creek study site area, interior Alaska.
The Trapper Creek site is 5 miles (8 km) west of the town of Trapper Creek (fig. 2).

Mean annual temperature is 29 °F (-1.2 °C), and mean annual precipitation is 40

inches (104 cm). The site is part of the “Susitna-Matanuska valley zone” of the

Northern Forest Formation (Zasada and Packee 1995). The study site is flat and

moderately well drained, with silt loam soils of the Rabideau series (Schoephorster

and Hinton 1973). Before harvesting, the site supported a very open, 100-year-old

stand of paper birch, with occasional small-diameter white spruce. (A few large-diameter white spruce were removed in a house-log sale before this study began.) Many

of the birch had been colonized by a stem-decaying fungus (Phellinus igniarius

(L.:Fr.) Quel.). The forest understory consisted of green alder, devil’s club (Oplopanax

horridus (Sm.) Miq.), Calamagrostis, elderberry (Sambucus racemosa L.), shield fern

(Dryopteris dilitata (Hoffm.) Gray), and woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum L.).

The alders were 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 m) tall. The soils at Trapper Creek have a 0.4-

inch (1-cm) thick volcanic ash layer at about the 6-inch (15-cm) depth, believed to

have been deposited during an eruption of Hayes volcano 3,650 (±150) years ago

(Beget et al. 1991). Little information is available on the vegetation of south-central

Alaska, and the successional dynamics of these very open, overmature birch stands

are not well understood. Stands like the study area at Trapper Creek are the most

6

Figure 2—The Trapper Creek study site area, south-central Alaska.
common forest type in that part of the state, occupying over 117,000 acres (290 000

ha) (Alaska Department of Natural Resources 1991). They typically include few young

spruce trees, and stands of mature spruce are relatively uncommon in the region.

Speculation on the origin of this large area of a single forest type has included catastrophic wildfire, past insect infestations, and preferential harvesting of spruce at the

start of the 20th century (USDA Soil Conservation Service 1986).

The Cooper Landing site lies 1.8 miles (3 km) west of the town of Cooper Landing

on the Kenai Peninsula (fig. 3). Mean annual temperature is 44 °F (7 °C), and mean

annual precipitation is 26 inches (67.5 cm). The site is part of the “Kenai and Alaska

Peninsulas zone” of the Northern Forest Formation (Zasada and Packee 1995). The

study site is on a nearly level bench, with a parent material of silty sand underlain by

glacial gravel. The soils, typical of the “alluvial and till bench land type” (USDA Forest

Service 1980) are well drained, with a fine sandy loam texture. The mineral soil is

capped with 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of volcanic ash, most likely from more than

one volcanic event. Before harvesting, the site supported a mature mixed stand of

Lutz spruce (Picea Xlutzii Little) and white spruce, with occasional paper birch and

mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana Bong.) Sarg.). Lutz spruce is a hybrid of white

spruce and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) (Little 1953). In 1992, the

stand was about 110 years old. The understory was Sitka alder, growing to a height

7

Figure 3—The Cooper Landing study site area, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.
Preharvest Stem

Mapping

of 12 feet (4 m), rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea Sm.), and bunchberry

(Cornus canadensis L.). Reynolds (1990) described this vegetation type as a “closed

Picea Xlutzii-Betula papyrifera/Menziesia ferruginea-Rubus pedatus/Gymnocarpium

dryopteris/ Peltigera spp.-Pleurozium spp.” community. On the Kenai Peninsula, white

and Lutz spruce are typically replaced by the shade-tolerant mountain hemlock

(Reynolds 1990). By 1992, however, virtually all spruce trees on the Cooper Landing

study site were dead, a result of a major infestation of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus

rufipennis (Kirby)) that had affected the area for 20 years (Holsten 1994, van Hees

and Larson 1991).

At each site, a grid of thirty 56- by 56-foot (17- by 17-m) plots was established in units

already laid out for timber sales. (This plot size was chosen to accommodate a postharvest plantation of seven rows of seven trees at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing.) At Standard

Creek and Trapper Creek, grids were continuous; at Cooper Landing, the grid was

broken into three sections to avoid patches of hemlock leave trees and one large,

dense alder thicket containing no merchantable trees. The location of each live alder

stem occurring in the 30-plot grid was recorded to the nearest foot, and its diameter

at the forest floor was recorded.

Two series of soil samples were collected. In the first set, 50 cores were collected

from each site: 5 from beneath each of five different clumps of alder and 5 from each

of five locations supporting typical understory vegetation other than alder. Because

few alders occurred within the grid of study plots at Cooper Landing, alder soils were

collected outside the grid at that site. Cores extended from just below the litter layer

down to and including the top 2 inches (5 cm) of mineral soil; organic and mineral

layers were sieved together before analysis. After the alder stem maps were produced,

and the sites harvested, a second set of samples was collected from 8- by 8-foot cells

of known preharvest alder stem density. Three cores were collected at randomly

chosen locations in each cell; in this series, the organic soil layers were separated

from and analyzed separately from the mineral soil layers. Total nitrogen content, pH,

soil organic matter content, and phosphorus and potassium concentrations were

determined. A more detailed description of soil sample collection and analysis is

given in Wurtz (1995b).

The Standard Creek site was harvested by feller-buncher between November 1992

and February 1993. The harvesting operation left a heavy load of slash that would

have made planting at precise spacing difficult. In May 1993, the slash was pushed

into piles near the landings by using a bulldozer with a straight-edged blade. At the

Trapper Creek site, trees were widely spaced and interspersed with thickets of alder.

The hand-felling and rubber-tired skidding operation conducted there in March 1993

did not disturb the thickets enough to allow for planting. Consequently, the site was

scarified with a bulldozer and straight-edged blade in May 1993. The operator was

instructed to scrape alder stems off at the base and to tear up the vegetative mat to

about an 8-inch (20-cm) depth. Trees at the Cooper Landing site were felled in

September 1992 with a tracked feller-buncher and skidded to landings with a rubbertired grapple skidder. No site preparation was done at Cooper Landing.

8

Soil Sampling

Harvesting Methods
Alder seed was collected near each of the three sites in September 1991. As alder

cones ripen, they turn from green to brown, and the cones scales gradually separate,

allowing seeds to disperse. The rate at which this happens depends on the weather:

warm sunny days lead to rapid ripening and dispersal, whereas cold cloudy days

lengthen ripening time. To maximize seed maturity, I delayed collecting cones as long

as possible, collecting just before seed had begun to disperse. After collection, cones

were spread out and air-dried at room temperature until fully brown and open. Shaking

cones in paper bags separated the seeds from the cones. Seeds were stored frozen

in plastic bags before sowing. Spruce seed came from collections of the State of

Alaska and, for the Cooper Landing study site, the Chugach National Forest. Recommended spruce cone collection and handling methods are described in Alden (1985)

and Eremko et al. (1989).

Containerized seedlings of both spruce and alder were produced on contract by Pelton

Reforestation, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, in styroblock 415D containers.1 These

containers are 1.5 inches (4 cm) in diameter at the top, 6 inches (15 cm) deep, and

have a volume of about 10 cubic inches (170 cm3). There are 77 such cells per block.

Because of restrictions on shipping soil from Alaska to Canada, the alder growing

medium was inoculated with soil collected from a stand of green alder growing near

the nursery. Seeds were sown in January 1992 in the greenhouse. Spruce seedlings

were lifted in November of that year and kept frozen until shipping to Alaska in May

1993. Alder seedlings were maintained in containers from January 1992 until May

1993, when they were lifted shortly before shipping. At the time of lifting, they were 8

to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) tall, were well nodulated, and had been leafed out for

about 2 months.

This was Pelton’s first attempt at growing containerized alder, and fewer than the

required number of alder were successfully produced. I therefore used alder wildlings

to fill in the remaining alder locations. Wildlings were collected in April 1994 (before

bud burst), along roadsides and in gravel pits near all three study sites. Such disturbed locations sometimes have large populations of 2- or 3-year-old alder seedlings,

often unbranched, and often growing with little root entanglement. I grasped the

alders by the stem just above the soil surface and gently pulled them up. I then shook

the sand or soil from their roots. The wildlings were well nodulated. They were bundled in groups of 10 and their roots wrapped in wet newspaper followed by plastic

wrap. Wildlings were refrigerated in the dark until outplanting in June 1994. At the

time of collection, they ranged in height from 18 to 30 inches (45 to 75 cm).

Using understory alder stems collected before harvest at the Trapper Creek site, I

developed an equation relating stem diameter to aboveground alder biomass (Wurtz

1995b). This model was used to estimate the total aboveground alder biomass that

occurred before harvesting in each 56- by 56-foot (17- by 17-m) plot. Each plot would

be planted with a 7 by 7 grid of white spruce at 8-foot spacing and a variable number

of alders (table 1). To assign plantation types, the 30 plots at each site were ranked 

Seed Collection—

Seedling Production

Methods

9

Statistical Design,

Plantation Layout, and

Plot and Seedling

Numbering System

1 The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader

information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service.
10

Table 1— Explanation of plot planting codes

Plot code Spruce planted Alders planted

100 Spruce at 8-foot spacing None

121 Spruce at 8-foot spacing Two alders 1 foot away from each spruce

122 Spruce at 8-foot spacing Two alders 2 feet away from each spruce

141 Spruce at 8-foot spacing Four alders 1 foot away from each spruce

142 Spruce at 8-foot spacing Four alders 2 feet away from each spruce

NR None None

Table 2— Number of stems and aboveground biomass estimates per 56- by 56-

foot plot for preharvest understory alders at each study sitea

Standard Creek Trapper Creek Cooper Landing

Plot Alder Plot Alder Plot Alder

Block code biomass Stem code biomass Stem code biomass Stem 

Kg per plotb No. Kg per plot No. Kg per plot No.

A NR 53 80 NR 0 0 NR 0 0

141 69 86 121 0 0 100 0 0

100 82 57 100 0 0 121 0 0

142 112 92 141 3 1 122 0 0

121 116 129 122 5 5 141 0 0

122 116 81 142 6 6 142 0 0

B 142 131 110 142 9 11 NR 0 0

NR 133 77 NR 14 14 100 0 0

141 133 171 121 20 6 121 0 0

122 134 122 141 33 30 122 0 0

121 164 98 122 33 21 141 0 0

100 177 98 100 34 8 142 0 0

C 142 187 175 122 36 9 NR 0 0

141 190 207 100 48 37 100 0 0

NR 203 200 121 50 35 121 0 0

100 206 198 NR 55 14 122 0 0

122 209 104 122 57 28 141 0 0

121 213 149 142 66 32 142 0 0

D 121 225 159 NR 79 45 141 1 2

NR 234 138 141 89 75 NR 1 1

142 235 158 100 106 22 122 2 5

141 242 162 121 109 47 121 4 7

122 242 179 142 157 67 142 8 6

100 244 266 122 159 58 100 18 11

E 141 274 142 NR 180 72 142 19 15

NR 282 237 141 181 107 121 19 15

122 292 201 121 182 44 122 21 15

142 307 136 122 218 123 141 23 15

100 317 300 142 312 139 NR 37 29

121 521 308 100 329 187 100 43 11

a Plots were assigned to blocks by ranking biomass estimates, with plots supporting the least alder biomass assigned to block A and plots with the most biomass assigned to block E. At all 3 sites, plot planting

codes were assigned randomly to the 6 plots in each block.

b Multiply kilograms by 2.21 to find pounds.
according to preharvest aboveground alder biomass and divided into five blocks of 6

plots (table 2). Blocks were designated A, B, C, D, and E, with block A having supported the least preharvest alder biomass and block E having supported the most. Within

each block, plantation type (plot code) was randomly assigned to plots to generate a

randomized complete block statistical design. Because of significant ecological differences between the three sites, three separate analyses were done.

Containerized spruce and alder seedlings were planted in late May and early June

1993. Alder wildlings were filled in during June 1994. Nothing was planted in the “natural regeneration” plots. Within each plot, only the interior 25 planted spruce (a 5 by 5

grid) were tagged and measured, leaving a buffer strip of spruce and associated

alders surrounding the measured seedlings (fig. 4). Because alders sprout readily

from damaged root clumps, natural alder sprouts likely would appear in plots where

alder had occurred before harvesting. No efforts were made to control or remove

these natural sprouts.

Spruce seedlings were tagged with heavy-weight aluminum tags stamped with tree

and plot number. Tags were attached with heavy-gauge wire coated with pink plastic;

initially the wires were fastened so as to loosely encircle the main stem of each

seedling. After the fifth growing season, tags were removed and reattached so as to

hang from a low branch and not encircle the stem. Each plantation was marked with

8-foot steel posts at all four corners of each plot. The post at the southwest corner of

each plot was labeled with an aluminum tag with plot number and location within the

plantation stamped on it (figs. 5-7). Posts that were not located at the southwest corner of any plot were labeled “B” for border.

11

Figure 4—Seedling orientation and spacing in three types of 56- by 56-foot (17- by 17-m) plantation plots.

Shaded areas indicate locations of tagged and measured spruce seedlings; seedlings outside shaded areas

function as buffer strips. Plot codes for each sample plot are shown at the southwest corner post of the plot.

Plot code 100=spruce planted at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing; plot code 122=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing

and two alders planted 2 feet (0.6 m) away from every spruce; plot code 142=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and four alders planted 2 feet (0.6 m) away from every spruce.
12

17 m

56 ft

D 100

D 122

E 141

A 122

D 142

A 100

E 121

C 122

D NR

A 142

C 121 A 141

C 142

C NR

E 142 B 142

E 122

E 100

D 141

N2 E1

N3 E1

N4 E1 N4 E2

N3 E2

N2 E2

N1 E2 N1 E3

N2 E3

N3 E3

N4 E3 N4 E4

N3 E4

N2 E4

N1 E4 N1 E5

N2 E5

N4 E5

B 141

N1 E1

N3 E5

N1 E6

N2 E6

N3 E6

N4 E6

N2 E7

N3 E7

N4 E7

N2 E8

N3 E8

N4 E8

D 121

E NR

C 100

B 121 B 122

A NR

B 100 B NR

A 121

C 141

Standard Creek

64°48' N.

 148°34'48" W.

62°18'32" N.

150°22'53" W.

B 121 B 142 B NR E 142 E 100 D 121

A 100 B 141 C 100 D NR E 122 E 141

B 122 A 142 D 141 D 142 C NR C 121

A 122 B 100 C 142 A 141 C 141 E NR

A NR D 100 D 122 E 121 A 121 C 122

N5 E1 N5 E2 N5 E3 N5 E4 N5 E5 N5 E6

N4 E1 N4 E2 N4 E3 N4 E4 N4 E5 N4 E6

N3 E1 N3 E2 N3 E3 N3 E4 N3 E5 N3 E6

N2 E1 N2 E2 N2 E3 N2 E4 N2 E5 N2 E6

N1 E1 N1 E2 N1 E3 N1 E4 N1 E5 N1 E6

Trapper Creek

17 m

56 ft

Figure 5—Plot map for the Standard Creek study site. Alphanumeric codes in the center of each plot refer

to experimental block and planting combination (see table 1). Codes in the lower left corner of each plot

give plot location relative to the origin.

Figure 6—Plot map for the Trapper Creek study site. Alphanumeric codes in the center of each plot refer to experimental block and species combination (see table 1).

Codes in the lower left corner of each plot give plot location relative to the origin.
At the Cooper Landing site, two plots on the west side of the original grid were

destroyed during the logging and road-building operation. Two new plots (A121 and

BNR) were established to substitute for them, but no preharvest alder data were

available for the new locations (fig. 7).

Height and ground-line diameter of spruce seedlings were measured at the time of

planting (before bud burst for the 1993 growing season) and again after the 1994,

1995, and 1997 growing seasons. Planted alders were neither tagged nor measured.

Their survival was assessed at the end of the 1994 and 1995 growing seasons. At

the end of the 1995 growing season, alders at the Cooper Landing site only were

visually assessed and assigned to one of three size classes: small, medium, or large,

indicating the amount of growth since planting.

The percentage of cover of associated vegetation was estimated at all ninety 56- by

56-foot (17- by 17-m) plots during July 1994. Three planted spruce seedlings were

randomly chosen in each plot, and a circular subplot of 3.28 square feet (1 m2) was

centered on each seedling. (For the natural regeneration plots, the coordinates of three

sampling locations were randomly chosen.) Ocular percentage of cover estimates were

made by species. Cover from the planted seedlings themselves was not included in

the estimates.

13

E 122 A 142 A 141

N9 E3 N9 E4 N9 E5

E 121 D 121 C 141

B 142 C 100 C 121 B NR

B 122 D 122

 E 100 D 141 E 142

B 141 D NR E 141

D 142 B 100 A 122 C 122 B 121

D 100 A 100 A 121

C 142

A NR C NR

E NR

N8 E2 N8 E3 N8 E4

N7 E1 N7 E2 N7 E3 N7 E4

N6 E2 N6 E3

N5 E2 N5 E3 N5 E4

N4 E2 N4 E3 N4 E4

N3 E4 N3 E5 N3 E6 N3 E7 N3 E8

N2 E5 N2 E6 N2 E7

N3 E9

N2 E9 N2 E10

N1 E9

120 ft

37 m

88 ft 27 m

Cooper Landing

17 m

56 ft

N1 E1

 60°29'40" N.

149°56'01" W.

Figure 7—Plot map for the Cooper Landing study site. Alphanumeric codes in the center of each plot refer

to experimental block and species combination (see table 1). Codes in the lower left corner of each plot

give plot location relative to the origin.

Seedling Growth

Measurements

Associated Vegetation
Results and

Discussion

Preharvest Stem

Mapping

The distribution of naturally occurring alder was remarkably even at Standard Creek

and noticeably clumped at Cooper Landing (as evidenced by the sparseness of alder

within the plot grid and the dense alder thickets outside it). The Trapper Creek site

had an intermediate distribution, with alders clumped in some areas and widely dispersed or absent in others. The Standard Creek grid had the most alder occurring in

the understory before harvest, with 2,138 stems per acre (5,283 stems per ha), and

the Cooper Landing grid had the fewest: 60 stems per acre (149 stems per ha). At

Standard Creek, one 56-foot square plot had 308 alder stems and an estimated

1,146 pounds (520 kg) of aboveground alder biomass (table 2). In comparison, boreal jack pine stands in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada, supported about 220

understory alder stems per acre (550 stems per ha) (Vogel and Gower 1998). Although

alders often are associated with wet sites (Newton et al. 1968), Cooper Landing was

the only site in this study where alder distribution seemed related to soil moisture; the

alders there grew along a small stream skirting the northern edge of the plot grid, and

in an obvious moist depression just outside the southern edge. Preharvest stand

characteristics and alder stem maps for each site are given in Wurtz (1995b).

The relation of total soil nitrogen to the existence or the amount of alder varied by

time of sampling and by site (table 3). Before harvesting, soils with alder had higher

nitrogen concentrations than soils without alder, but this difference was statistically

significant only at Cooper Landing. After harvesting, soils with alder at Trapper Creek

had significantly more nitrogen than soils without alder, but at Standard Creek, they

had significantly less. At Cooper Landing, soils with alder collected after harvesting

tended to have less nitrogen than soils without alder, but this difference was not statistically significant. In essence, there was no consistent relation between preharvest

alder stem distribution and total soil nitrogen reserves. Though between-site differences could not be compared statistically, Trapper Creek soils of any origin had more

nitrogen than soils from the other two sites. Complete soil chemistry results are given

in Wurtz (1995b).

There are several possible reasons for the lack of a consistent alder effect on total

soil nitrogen. First, any nitrogen that was added to these relatively infertile soils may

have been taken up, sequestered in the overstory, and removed in the logging operation. Weetman and Webber (1972) estimated that 357 pounds per acre (400 kg per

ha) of nitrogen would be removed by full-tree logging of spruce in eastern Canada. In

their study of jack pine stands in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Vogel and Gower

(1998) felled trees to assay all components of the overstory. Although they found that

stems, branches, and foliage of the overstory, as well as the feathermoss layer, have

more nitrogen in stands with alder than in stands lacking alder, the amount of nitrogen in the overstory and moss layers was small compared to the amount in soil. The

simple total soil nitrogen determination used in the present study was too limited to

assess the possibility of nitrogen sequestration and removal.

A second possible reason for the lack of a consistent alder effect on total soil nitrogen

is shading. Because nitrogen-fixation rates are related to photosynthetic rates (Gordon

and Wheeler 1978), alders beneath a dense canopy of trees would have lower rates

of fixation than if they were unshaded (Attiwell and Leeper 1987, Bormann and Gordon

1989). The sites used in this study spanned a range of overstory conditions. Trapper

Creek had a very open overstory, Standard Creek had a very dense overstory, and

14

Soil Chemistry

Results 
15

Table 3— Soil nitrogen values from areas with and without preharvest alder

(mean ± 1 SE) during 2 sampling periods

Sampling period Mean alder Total

and vegetation type biomass nitrogena

Grams per 

square meterb - - - - - - - - - - - Percent - - - - - - - - - - -

Standard Creek:

Preharvest— Mixed soilc

Alder — 0.60 (0.1)

No alder — .56 (.0)

ns

Postharvest— Mineral Organic

Heavy alderd 4491 (188) .09 (.00) .57 (.05)C 

Moderate alder 870 (7) .09 (.01) .85 (.09)C D

No alder 0 .09 (.01) .92 (.07)D

ns p = 0.0154

Trapper Creek:

Preharvest— Mixed soil

Alder — .84 (.0)

No alder — .64 (.1)

ns

Postharvest— Mineral Organic

Heavy alder 6903 (1468) .44 (.01)C 1.51 (.22)

Moderate alder 960 (7) .46 (.01)C 1.65 (.27)

No alder 0 .36 (.02)D 1.32 (.18)

p = 0.0096 ns

Cooper Landing:

Preharvest— Mixed soil

Alder — .62 (.1)

No alder — .33 (.0)

p = 0.0393

Postharvest— Mineral Organic

Heavy alder 4029 (1268) .15 (.01) .50 (.06)

Moderate alder 295 (43) .19 (.04) .74 (.20)

No alder 0 .19 (.01) .73 (.06)

ns ns

a Statistical comparisons were made among vegetation types within sampling periods and sites; ns = not significant; when a probability value is given, values followed by the same letter are not significantly different.

p=probability.

b Multiply grams per square meter by 0.000204 to find pounds per square foot.

c During preharvest sampling, the organic and mineral portions of the soil cores were passed through a

sieve and then analyzed together. During postharvest sampling, the organic and mineral portions of the

cores were analyzed separately.

d During postharvest sampling, sampling locations were chosen based on the amount of understory alder

that had been mapped there before the site was harvested.
Vegetation Sampling

Results

Cooper Landing had an overstory that was shifting from very dense to very open as

the beetle-killed spruce trees gradually dropped their needles. There was no clear

correspondence, however, between these canopy conditions and soil nitrogen levels.

Mixing of the forest floor during the harvesting and site preparation operations also

may have contributed to the lack of a relation in the postharvest samples. This seems

unlikely, however, because the Trapper Creek site was both most disturbed by the timber harvesting and site preparation operation and the only site where soils with alder

collected after harvesting had significantly more nitrogen than soils without alder.

In any event, much of the work documenting the ability of alders to enhance soil nitrogen has been conducted in pure stands, where soils are comparatively homogeneous.

When alders occur in mixtures with other species, the underlying soil mosaic becomes

more complex. Among four studies that explicitly examined a relation between alder

stem locations and the spatial extent of soil nitrogen reserves (Dawson et al. 1983,

Heilman 1983, Rhoades and Binkley 1992, Valentine 1990), only Rhoades and Binkley

found a close relation.

By the second year after planting, total cover of all species of associated vegetation

ranged from a low of 19 percent cover to a high of 54 percent (table 4). Calamagrostis

was common at Standard Creek and Trapper Creek but was virtually absent at Cooper

Landing. Other common species at Standard Creek were horsetail (Equisetum arvense),

prickly rose, and fireweed. At Trapper Creek, common species were Calamagrostis,

devil’s club, horsetail, and elderberry. At Cooper Landing, fireweed, horsetail, rusty

menziesii, and elderberry were common.

Including alder in a plantation had no effect on either the percentage of cover of any

species of associated vegetation or the amount of all species combined. This likely

was due to the slow growth of the planted alder (see below).

After three growing seasons, alder survival ranged from 58 to 89 percent and was

highest at Trapper Creek (table 5). No differences in survival existed between nursery-grown alders and alder wildlings. After five growing seasons, spruce survival

ranged from 76 to 95 percent. The spruce seedlings at Standard Creek survived as

well as the highest rate of survival in a different plantation study begun near Fairbanks

about the same time.2 In that study, the survival of 415D stocktype trees differed

greatly by planting unit, ranging from 25 to 85 percent after 5 years. Spruce survival

in the present study, however, was lower than smaller Ray Leach-type containerized

spruce seedlings planted on a flood-plain site near Fairbanks in 1983 (Youngblood

and Zasada 1991). There, mean survival after 5 years was greater than 90 percent

on both scarified and unscarified surfaces.

Despite good survival, the growth and vigor of alders planted in this study were poor.

Many grew little in the first 3 years after planting and appeared to be barely surviving.

Most of the growth that occurred was elongation of the original stem; few plants produced additional stem sprouts. Alder growth data were collected at the Cooper

16

Seedling Survival

2 Graham, J.; Wurtz, T.L. [In prep.] Growth of white spruce stock

types in interior Alaska.

Alder Growth
Table 4— Estimated percentage of cover (with mean ± 1 SE shown in parentheses) of all species combined and 8 individual plant species by plot code in 1994 

Plot Total 

Site codea cover CACAb EQAR ROAC EPAN OPHO EQSI MEFE SARA

Standard

Creek 100 35.6 (4.9) 11.3 (5.0) 11.0 (5.2) 7.0 (3.5) 0.6 (0.4) 0 0 0 0

121 46.3 (9.0) 10.0 (7.7) 13.0 (6.0) 4.3 (1.5) .3 (0.3) 0 0 0 0122 48.6 (7.0) 9.0 (3.5) 25.3 (7.7) 8.3 (3.3) 1.7 (1.2) 0 0 0 0141 32.3 (5.0) 2.6 (1.5) 8.3 (3.8) 9.6 (4.8) 1.0 (0.6) 0 0 0 0 142 43.3 (5.4) 2.0 (1.6) 21.6 (3.8) 3.3 (1.8) .3 (0.3) 0 0 0 0 

NR 40.6 (9.9) 2.6 (1.4) 15.6 (5.0) 9.6 (2.9) 1.0 (0.4) 0 0 0 0

Trapper

Creek 100 25.6 (8.4) .6 (0.6) 0 0 0 5.7 (1.6) 3.4 (2.2) 0 13.3 (7.5)

121 40.3 (8.3) 7.3 (5.3) 0 0 0 9.6 (4.1) 9.3 (3.1) 0 12.6 (6.5)122 29.6 (6.5) 4.3 (1.7) 0 0 0 9.3 (3.3) 5.3 (3.6) 0 11.3 (5.3)141 9.6 (5.2) 3.3 (3.3) 0 0 0 8.6 (3.1) 5.3 (1.8) 0 4.3 (1.1)142 34.6 (8.7) 12.6 (7.1) 0 0 0 6.0 (0.8) 8.0 (1.6) 0 6.6 (3.9)

NR 24.6 (6.7) 1.3 (0.9) 0 0 0 9.0 (2.1) 4.0 (1.1) 0 3.6 (2.8)

Cooper

Landing 100 54.3 (9.2) 3.3 (1.8) 0 (0.0) 2.3 (2.3) 7.3 (2.7) 0 5.3 (3.4) 11.6 (4.4) 1.0 (0.6)

121 43.3 (8.6) 1.0 (0.6) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 7.3 (3.7) 0 13.3 (8.1) 4.3 (2.7) 1.6 (1.0)122 32.0 (3.9) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) .3 (0.3) 3.3 (2.9) 0 8.6 (3.6) 7.3 (4.6) 1.3 (0.9)141 29.3 (9.9) 0 (0.0) .6 (0.6) 0 (0.0) 4.3 (1.7) 0 4.3 (3.9) 2.6 (1.1) 0 (0.0)142 41.6 (5.6) 1.6 (1.6) 3 (0.3) 0 (0.0) 4.0 (3.5) 0 2.0 (2.0) 7.0 (3.3) 1.7 (1.6)

NR 37.0 (8.4) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 3.6 (2.9) 8.6 (3.2) 0 1.0 (0.4) 6.3 (1.9) 2.6 (1.5)

a Plot code 100=only spruce planted; code 121=two alders planted 1 foot away from each spruce; code 122=two alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce; code141=four alders planted 1 foot away from each spruce; code 142=four alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce; NR=natural regeneration plot.b CACA=Calamagrostis canadensis; EQAR=Equisetum arvense; ROAC=Rosa acicularis; EPAN=Epilobium angustifolium; OPHO=Oplopanax horridus;

EQSI=Equisetum silvaticum; MEFE=Menziesia ferruginea; and SARA=Sambucus racemosa.

17
Landing site only in 1995. That year, 30 percent of the alders were dead, and among

the survivors, 8 percent were classed as small, 38 percent were of medium size, and

only 22 percent were large. Even among stems classed as large, growth was mostly

vertical. Their form was treelike rather than shrubby.

Zasada et al. (1987) document the survival and growth of containerized green alder

seedlings after planting on four burned sites near Fairbanks. In that study, survival of

the planted alder ranged from 30 to 50 percent after 6 years. The mean height of the

planted alders after 6 years ranged from 27 to 65 inches (69 to 168 cm), with the best

growth occurring on the most severely burned surfaces.

The poor growth of the alders planted in the present study contrasted markedly with

the growth of the sprouts from alder root clumps mapped on these sites before harvesting. Though no data were collected on these sprouts (other than to include them

in percentage of cover estimates), their vigor was readily apparent in the field. By 3

years after harvesting at Standard Creek, sprouts growing from surviving root clumps

were noticeably taller and bushier than the planted alders. Similar results were reported by Zasada et al. (1987). On their least severely burned site, alder sprouts from

surviving root clumps averaged 76 inches (195 cm) tall after 6 years, roughly 2.5

times as tall as the planted seedlings there. This vigorous growth of sprouts from

already-established root systems and the fact that alder wildlings planted in a tilled

field in another study grew vigorously (Wurtz 1995a) suggest that the poor growth

of planted alders in the present study was due to competition from other vegetation. It

seems the planted alders could not withstand the competitive environment on these

recently harvested sites.

Although much research on alder has focused on its ability to compete with other

species, notably Douglas-fir (Cole and Newton 1986, Shainsky et al. 1992, Shainsky

and Radosevich 1992), a few studies have documented the reverse. When grown with

salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis Pursh) in the Oregon Coast Range, red alders are

one-tenth the biomass of those grown without salmonberry (Newton and Cole 1994).

Eis (1981) followed the vegetative colonization of four clearcut areas in central British

Columbia on which white spruce was planted immediately after logging. Three sites

supported Sitka alder and one (the alluvium site) supported thinleaf alder, though Eis

(1981) did not distinguish between alders establishing from seed and those sprouting

18

Table 5—Percentage of survival of spruce and alder during the

first years after plantinga

Species and site 1994 1995 1997

Percent

Alder:

Standard Creek 63-86 58-78 —

Trapper Creek 83-94 77-89 —

Cooper Landing 68-82 67-71 —

Spruce:

Standard Creek 84-95 81-93 80-88

Trapper Creek 94-98 88-96 76-88

Cooper Landing 97-99 96-98 89-95

a Values indicate the range of mean values among the 5 plot codes at each site.
from surviving root clumps. The ability of alders to colonize the harvested areas differed greatly by site. Six years after logging, the cover of all shrub species combined

ranged from 8 to 37 percent on three of the sites. On the alluvium site, at 3 years after

logging, shrub cover was 85 percent, of which 20 percent was thinleaf alder.

Analysis of variance (results not shown) indicated that the growth of the spruce planted in this study was not affected by the preharvest location of understory alder on

any of the three sites (see cover figure).

In a study of growth decline in 40-year-old plantation spruce trees in Ontario, Hendrickson

(1990) found that total soil nitrogen levels were not significantly correlated with tree

growth. Highly significant correlations, however, were found between growth and concentrations of NH4-N and NO3-N. Data on available forms of soil nitrogen would have

been valuable in the present study. Extending Hendrickson’s result here, however,

suggests that understory alder locations may have been no more associated with

available nitrogen than they were with total nitrogen. Most of the nitrogen fixed by

understory alders may have been sequestered in the overstory long before the site

was harvested and planted.

More important from an operational standpoint, planting mixtures of alder and spruce

had no statistically significant effect on 5-year spruce growth (figs. 8 and 9). In contrast,

Ballard (1984) studied a harvested, scalped site in interior British Columbia where

alders had invaded portions of the treated area. Spruce seedlings planted near invading alders grew faster than those planted in scalped areas without invading alder. The

notable difference between the present study and Ballard’s was likely the scalping

treatment, which typically removes both the organic soil and much of the competing

vegetation. The competitive environment was modified so that alder could become

established, and the mineral soil was deficient enough in nitrogen that the alders likely

fixed nitrogen rapidly and affected spruce growth directly.

In this study, the planted spruce grew vigorously at all three sites (tables 6 and 7, figs.

8 and 9) and in all planting combinations. At the time of planting, seedlings from the

Cooper Landing seed source were largest, and those from Standard Creek were

smallest, in both height and diameter. After two growing seasons, this advantage disappeared; Cooper Landing trees were smaller than seedlings from the other two

sites. By 1997, after five growing seasons, Trapper Creek trees were the largest in

both height and diameter, a trend that likely reflects the comparatively more fertile

soils of the site. The seedlings at all three sites grew significantly more than containerized spruce planted in two other studies near Fairbanks. In a study of smaller

Ray-Leach stocktype seedlings planted at a Tanana River flood-plain site (Youngblood

and Zasada 1991), height growth ranged from 1.5 to 3 inches (4 to 8 cm) during the

third growing season; stem diameters averaged 0.23 to 0.28 inch (5.8 to 7.1 mm) at

the end of the fifth growing season. For comparison, in the present study, height

increment during the third year ranged from 4.2 to 8.4 inches (11 to 22 cm) (table 6),

and stem diameter after five seasons averaged from 0.56 to 0.8 inch (14.2 to 19.9

mm) (table 7). In a different study that included the same stock type used here, 415D

seedlings had mean height of 28 inches (73 cm) and a mean stem diameter of 0.45

inch (11.4 mm) after five growing seasons (see footnote 2). This compares with a

mean height that ranged from 29 to 39 inches (75 to 100 cm) and a mean diameter

that ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 inch (14.1 to 19.9 mm) in the present study.

Spruce Growth

19
20

Figure 8—Height of planted spruce (mean ± 1 standard error). Plot code 100=

spruce planted at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing; plot code 121=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-

m) spacing and two alders planted 1 foot (0.3 m) away from every spruce; plot

code 122=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and two alders planted 2 feet (0.6

m) away from every spruce; plot code 141=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing

and four alders planted 1 foot (0.3 m) away from every spruce; plot code 142=

spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and four alders planted 2 feet (0.6 m) away

from every spruce.

Year
21

Figure 9—Diameter of planted spruce (mean ± 1 standard error). Plot code

100=spruce planted at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing; plot code 121=spruce at 8-foot

(2.4-m) spacing and two alders planted 1 foot (0.3 m) away from every spruce;

plot code 122=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and two alders planted 2 feet

(0.6 m) away from every spruce; plot code 141=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and four alders planted 1 foot (0.3 m) away from every spruce; plot code

142=spruce at 8-foot (2.4-m) spacing and four alders planted 2 feet (0.6 m)

away from every spruce.

Year
Conclusions

22

Table 6—Heights of planted spruce (with mean ± 1 SE shown in parentheses) at

time of planting in June, 1993 and after the 1994, 1995, and 1997 growing seasons

Plot Height

Site codea At planting 1994 1995 1997

Centimeters

Standard

Creek 100 15.0 (0.7) 36.8 (1.1) 57.2 (1.2) 95.1 (3.4)

121 13.0 (.6) 37.8 (1.2) 58.6 (1.3) 95.1 (2.7)

122 14.5 (.5) 36.9 (1.8) 58.1 (2.2) 94.8 (1.8)

141 15.4 (.7) 37.1 (1.5) 57.6 (2.1) 96.1 (4.1)

142 15.4 (.7) 38.5 (1.3) 60.0 (1.9) 96.5 (3.0)

Trapper

Creek 100 16.7 (.2) 38.6 (.7) 57.7 (.5) 96.9 (2.8)

121 16.5 (.3) 40.4 (1.3) 57.8 (1.8) 93.0 (3.2)

122 16.5 (.2) 39.8 (.9) 58.1 (1.5) 95.5 (2.9)

141 16.8 (.3) 39.4 (.8) 59.8 (1.1) 100.6 (2.5)

142 16.5 (.2) 39.2 (1.9) 59.4 (3.3) 97.6 (4.6)

Cooper 

Landing 100 19.0 (.4) 34.3 (1.1) 45.5 (1.3) 66.4 (4.1)

121 19.3 (.4) 37.5 (.5) 54.6 (2.2) 86.5 (4.3)

122 18.8 (.7) 35.9 (1.4) 51.4 (2.9) 80.6 (4.2)

141 19.3 (.4) 36.7 (2.2) 48.2 (2.7) 76.6 (6.5)

142 19.9 (.6) 37.6 (1.3) 52.4 (3.1) 75.2 (5.7)

a Plot code 100=only spruce planted; code 121=two alders planted 1 foot away from each spruce; code 122=

two alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce; code 141=four alders planted 1 foot away from each spruce;

code 142=four alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce.

This study found inconsistent evidence for a soil nitrogen mosaic mirroring the locations of alders in the understory of mature forests. The distribution of soil nitrogen varied temporally and spatially, an indication that the factors controlling nitrogen fixation,

release, and uptake in mature mixed-species forests are complex and varied. Second,

alders planted in mixtures with white spruce after the sites were harvested grew too

slowly to affect the rate at which other species, including Calamagrostis, colonized

the site. Alder sprouts from root clumps that occupied the site before timber harvest

grew much more vigorously than the planted alders; these sprouts are more likely

than the planted seedlings to impact the nitrogen dynamics of sites where they were

abundant. Finally, most likely because the alders grew so slowly, planting mixtures of

alder and white spruce seedlings had no effect on spruce survival or growth in the

first five seasons after planting.
Whether the alders planted in this study will affect the growth of the planted spruce

over the long term will depend on whether the alders gradually become established

or gradually die out. At Standard and Trapper Creeks, the planted alders likely always

will be dominated by the root-clump sprouts from alders that occupied the site before

harvesting. But at Cooper Landing, the planted alders are effectively the only alders

within the plot grid. The soils there are nutrient-poor and have little humus. On sites in

eastern Canada with little humus, full-tree logging of spruce may deplete nitrogen

reserves to the extent that fertilization is needed in the second rotation to maintain

tree growth (Weetman and Webber 1972). Thus, of the three sites examined in this

paper, Cooper Landing is the one most likely to benefit should its planted alders gradually become established and grow. Interestingly, Cooper Landing was the only site

where growth trends among the different plantation types appear to have begun to

diverge (figs. 8 and 9). Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen. Cromack

et al. (1999) found no correlation between total soil nitrogen and the amount of volunteer red alder occurring in a 9-year-old Douglas-fir plantation. They suggest resampling the soils in 20 to 30 years.

23

Table 7—Ground-line diameters of planted spruce (with mean ± 1 SE shown in

parentheses) at time of planting in June 1993 and after the 1994, 1995, and 1997

growing seasons

Plot Diameter

Site codea At planting 1994 1995 1997

Millimeters

Standard

Creek 100 3.5 (0.1) 8.3 (0.5) 10.5 (0.5) 15.7 (0.7)

121 3.6 (.1) 7.9 (.3) 10.0 (.2) 14.5 (.2)

122 3.5 (.1) 7.5 (.3) 10.5 (.1) 15.3 (.4)

141 3.5 (.1) 7.7 (.3) 10.1 (.4) 14.2 (.8)

142 3.6 (.1) 7.5 (.2) 10.8 (.3) 15.4 (.7)

Trapper

Creek 100 3.7 (.1) 8.6 (.2) 11.7 (.4) 19.7 (.8)

121 3.6 (.1) 7.9 (.1) 10.6 (.3) 17.3 (.6)

122 3.7 (.1) 8.4 (.2) 11.4 (.4) 19.9 (.7)

141 4.4 (.1) 8.3 (.2) 11.8 (.3) 19.9 (.5)

142 4.1 (.1) 8.2 (.5) 11.1 (.6) 19.4 (1.1)

Cooper 

Landing 100 4.1 (.1) 7.3 (.3) 8.9 (.4) 14.1 (1.1)

121 4.2 (.1) 8.2 (.4) 11.3 (.9) 18.1 (1.1)

122 4.4 (.1) 8.2 (.2) 10.9 (.4) 17.3 (.8)

141 4.3 (.1) 7.8 (.2) 9.9 (.7) 16.0 (1.2)

142 4.6 (.1) 8.3 (.3) 10.1 (.6) 16.2 (1.1)

a Plot code 100=only spruce planted; code 121=two alders planted 1 foot away from each spruce; code 122=

two alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce; code 141=four alders planted 1 foot away from each

spruce; code 142=four alders planted 2 feet away from each spruce.
Acknowledgments

From this 5-year perspective, mixed plantations of spruce and alder are clearly not

justified for forest management on sites similar to those used in this study. Whether

they are justified from a long-term, multiple-rotation perspective, or on other types of

boreal forest sites, is not yet clear. These plantations were carefully laid out and marked

with heavy-duty, long-lasting materials. Locational information, detailed site maps, and

early data summaries are provided here for future evaluation of these plantations.

One useful result from this study concerns the survival and growth of alder wildlings.

Alders are planted in various restoration projects around Alaska (Davidson3, Helm

1994, Helm and Carling 1993, Helm et al. 1999, Karle and Densmore 1994). For projects that can support nursery production and shipping costs, work in the Pacific

Northwest with red alder has shown nursery-grown bare-root alders to be superior to

both containerized alders and wildlings (Radwan et al. 1992). For restoration projects

in Alaska that cannot support those costs, wildlings may be a practical, readily available, and inexpensive option.

This research was supported by grant 91-1-041 from the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation and by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research

Station. The maps in this publication were made by Betsy Sturm. I thank cooperators

Marc Lee, Alaska Division of Forestry; Wade Willson, Matanuska-Susitna Borough;

Mark Kromrey and Warren Oja, Chugach National Forest, research technicians S.

Tuccio, S. Schlentner, T. Zastrow, D. Mikowski, and D. Westlind, and statistician Tim

Max. Thanks to Dave Verbyla for the cover figure.

24

3 Personal communication. 1999. Davidson, D., soil scientist,

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Division of Forestry. In cooperation with: Alaska Department of Fish and Game,

Anchorage.

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