Skógræktarritið - 15.05.2001, Qupperneq 80

black spruce, and lesser amounts
of other native tree species
(tamarack, birch, dogberryand
pin cherry).
it is fair to say that even long-
time residents assume that low
coastal barrens and somewhat
low stature forests are natural
ecosystems. In truth, they are a
poor reflection of the true poten-
tial of the coastal forest that pre-
vailed in the 16th and early 17th
century period of European set-
tlement. One only has to look at
the dimensions of logs in photos
of late 19th and early 20th century
logging operations in north cen-
tral Newfoundland to see just
how much more productive pre-
settlement forests were.
With respect to restoration and
refurbishing coastal forest on the
Avalon Peninsula two principle
questions come to mind: can
man-made barrens be restored
to forests; if so, what is the true
potential yield of forest produc-
tivity.
Both questions have been
positively addressed by Lt-Col.
lackTurner CBE, MC. Turnerwas
appointed Newfoundland's first
Chief Forester in 1934. His first
priority was to refurbish the man-
made barrens and scrub lands
back to productive forest. To that
end, Turner's all-encompassing
forest management plans made
provisions for a large and sus-
tained plantation program to
reforest denuded areas on the
Avalon Peninsula. By 1948 about
six hectares were under cultiva-
tion at the National Tree Nurs-
ery. Duringthe 10-year period
between 1938-48, the National
Tree Nursery produced approxi-
mately seven million seedlings -
including 1.1 million seedlings
freely distributed to schools,
interested groups and individu-
als. Most of the stock was plant-
ed within the so-called Three
Mile Limit along the coastal
fringe where forests were indis-
criminately cut and also on bar-
rens on the Avalon and Bona-
vista Peninsulas. Early forestry
reports and a somewhat prevail-
ing view, maintain that pine
plantations established between
1938-52 on the denuded areas
within the Three-Mile-Limit are
failures - especially now that the
pine plantations are suffering
from wind-throw. However, as
this report shows, in terms of
wood volume, these plantations
have outperformed neighbouring
fir and spruce forests of the same
age (and older) by a factor of at
least 2:1. Also, individual trees in
a small group of Norway spruce
trees planted about 50 years ago
near Salmonier National Tree
Nursery is 10-20 times the aver-
age volume of individual native
trees in typical forests on the
Avalon. Even more remarkable, is
the phenomenal growth Sitka
spruce in three small plots on
the exposed coastal barren in
Trepassey on the southern tip of
the Avalon Peninsula. At 47 years
of age, their average height is
14 m, average DBH is 35 cm (SE±
1.4) and individual tree volume
0.14-1.11 m3. Also, a few Sitka
spruce have naturally regenerat-
ed in the alder thickets. One 7
year-old sitka spruce sapling is
approximately 3 m tall.
No major planting has been
done on the denuded areas of
the coastal fringe of the Avalon
Peninsula since 1952. Neverthe-
less, since the 1960's, many
small experimental plantations
have been established through-
out the Avalon Peninsula. The
annual planting program by the
Boy Scouts of Canada is a not-
able contribution. The Scout's
plantations are valuable in terms
of the knowledge gained on the
performance of Japanese, Euro-
pean and Hybrid larches and
spruce in many different contexts
such as urban areas, on barrens,
in forests, on good sites and bad,
etc. In fact, the Scouts have prob-
ably planted in more nooks and
crannies and on a broader range
of sites than any other organiza-
tion - government agencies
included.
There is a much longer tradi-
tion of tree planting within towns
and villages. The oldest living
planted trees in the province are
European beech dating back to
the 1840’s. And whereas foresters
have tended to limit planting to
2-3 species of trees (mainly black
spruce and (apanese larch), more
than 200 hundred species, vari-
eties and forms of trees have
been planted in towns and vil-
lages - with new varieties added
every year. On the whole, exotic
species - elm, oak, beech, ash,
poplar, Douglas fir, pine and
spruce - are taller and produce
more volume per tree than native
species cultivated alongside
them. Of course, one would think
that urban trees do better be-
cause they are lavished with due
care an attention. This is true in
older part of towns and cities.
But since the 1950's, the usual
practice of developing large sub-
divisions and shopping centres,
is to strip the land bare of trees
and topsoil. When building is
complete, the ‘garden’ area is
back filled with coarse gravel and
covered with 2-5 cm of poor top-
soil. The result is a soil substrate
that is vastly inferior to any soil a
forester would think of planting
in. Even so, residents, most with
little knowledge of trees, have
achieved good results on these
urban deserts.
With regards to the selection
of tree species and expectations
of growth and yield, the com-
mon thread between plantation
foresters and gardeners is that
they base their chances of tree
planting success primarily on
78
SKÓGRÆKTARRITIÐ 2001 l.tbl.