Tropentag, October 6 - 8, 2009 in Hamburg "Biophysical and Socio-economic Frame Conditions for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources"

Impact of 12 Years of Poplar Cultivation on the Availability of some Soil Nutrients in Safrabasteh, Iran

¹Guilan Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Natural Resources, Iran
²Novin Sanjesh Gil, Soil & Water Analysis Laboratory, Iran

Abstract

Fast growing plantations are likely to provide a huge quantity of raw material quickly and at a relatively low cost. Hybrid poplars, cultivated under Iranian conditions and on suitable soils, offer a high productivity. Thanks to the use of clonal varieties it is possible to obtain homogeneous material with well-known properties. The optimal stand density is 400 stems ha^-1. The Research Institute of Forest and Rangeland (RIFR) planted many plots of hybrid poplar on the Safrabasteh Poplar Research Station in 1993 (Astaneh, Guilan Province). This study was carried out in order to study the influence of four poplar clone plantation on the available soil nutrients on this research station.
The experimental design was a completely randomised block with 3 replications and four treatments (25 trees in each plot) as: 1. Populus euruamerican cv. 214 2. Populus euruamerican cv. 45/51 3. Populus deltoeides cv. 77/51 4. Populus deltoeides cv. 69/55. Some soil properties such as pH, OM, N, P, K, Ca and Mg were determined. The data were subjected to analysis of variance using the ANOVA procedures of the SAS program. Statistical significance was determined at p = 0.01.
Analysis of variance showed that the effects of different poplar clones are significant on soil parameters. The phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and organic matter contents in the upper layers varied in each plot. The rates of nitrogen and calcium did not change, except N and Ca. Mean comparison showed that the Populus euruamerican cv. 45/51 had greater effects on the soil parameters than other clones. Thus, it is suggested that suitable poplar clones should be used for future plantations projects.

Keywords: Populus, soil nutrients

Contact Address: Ehsan Kahneh, Guilan Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Natural Resources, Km12 Rasht- Tehran High Way, Rasht, Iran, e-mail: kahneh_ehsanyahoo.com