A review of the effect of stresses between lifting and planting on nursery stock quality and performance

This paper presents the experimental evidence on the effects of desiccation, low and high temperatures, rough handling, root loss and storage between lifting and planting on plant quality and performance. The review concentrates on the impact of these stresses on outplanting performance; their effect on seedling properties, such as root growth potential and root electrolyte leakage, is also described. Stresses most often happen in combination but there is relatively little information on their interactions. Examples of desiccation plus rough handling, cold storage plus desiccation, frost damage plus freeze storage and the triple stress of desiccation, heating and rough handling are presented. The limited evidence on the cumulative effect of stresses suggests tentatively that damage from rough handling does not accumulate in the same way as damage from desiccation and prolonged storage. Factors affecting stress resistance are briefly reviewed. There are three impediments to producing a critical review of the literature: experimental treatments, particularly of desiccation and rough handling, can rarely be directly compared; the impact of stress treatments can be modified by a large number of factors, and the levels of stress have seldom been quantified in normal forestry practice. The first two problems also make it difficult to formulate general statements concerning critical thresholds for the stresses. However, instruments are now available for measuring and monitoring stresses between lifting and planting and it is, in theory, possible to model the effects of these stresses to take account of the many factors that modify their impact on seedling survival and growth. This offers the possibility of significant improvements in our ability to predict the effect of stresses between lifting and planting on seedling performance.