Mountain birch facilitates Scots pine in the northern tree line – does improved soil fertility have a role?
2018
Mikola, Juha | Silfver, Tarja | Rousi, Matti
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Facilitative plant-plant interactions are common in harsh environments such as Arctic and alpine tree lines. In Fennoscandia, mountain birch dominates tree lines, but mixes with Scots pine in less severe areas. Using over 30-yr. old Scots pine common gardens, established at three locations near the present Scots pine tree line, we tested (1) if mountain birch can facilitate Scots pine numbers and (2) if improved soil fertility under mountain birch canopies has a role in facilitation. METHODS: We counted the number of pines within 1-m and 3-m radii of the tallest mountain birch vs. a random spot in 70–75 planting plots and sampled soil for nutrients at 0.3-, 1- and 3-m distance to the birch in ten plots in each location. RESULTS: Number of Scots pines was 29% higher within a 1-m radius of a mountain birch than of a random spot. This effect did not depend on location, although the locations differed significantly in soil fertility, and no effect was detected within a 3-m radius. Concentrations of water, NH₄, NO₃ and PO₄ decreased significantly with increasing distance to a mountain birch, but only in the least fertile location. CONCLUSIONS: Mountain birch can significantly facilitate Scots pine in tree line conditions. However, unlike we expected, improved soil fertility under birch canopies may not have a general role in facilitation.
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