188 Ferrini et al.: Effect of Fertilization and Backfill Amendment on Oak other treatments. Shoot length in this study, however, was less influenced by fertilization (particularly in the first and second year), leading to the hypothesis of a probable predetermination of this parameter in the shoot primordia present on the trees and formed during the previous year; therefore fertilization applied right before planting seldom affects season growth and may not be effective until the following year (Gilman and Yeager 2003; Harris et al. 2004). In the third year, once the post-transplant crisis was overcome and trees were established, the trees responded to fertilization in an extremely positive way, exhibiting increases in growth that were nearly double those of the other treatments. As to soil characteristics, the addition of compost and leonardite to the backfill soil positively affected soil physical properties compared to fertilization and control treatments. In particular, cone resistance significantly decreased in the soil amended with compost up to 60 cm (24 in.) depth. Amended soil showed higher total macroporosity values both at 10 to 20 and 30 to 40 cm (4 to 8 and 12 to 16 in.) depths. Moreover quantity and size distribution of elon- gated transmission pores indicated a better quality of the pore system. On the contrary, micromorphological examina- tion of soil thin sections showed a poor spatial arrangement of this type of pore in the fertilized soil, along with the presence of a massive structure in the control treatment. While the data obtained are limited to only one species and one environment, they provide a solid base for continu- ing studies. Future investigations should lead to a better definition of the techniques related to backfilling, on both the plants and the physical–chemical characteristics of the soil, which, in the long-term, may be positively modified to produce differences in plant growth and physiology that have not emerged during the first 3 years following transplant. LITERATURE CITED American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE). 1982. Soil penetrometer, Agricultural Engineering Yearbook, ASAE Standard, ASAE S313.1, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MI. Blake, G.R., and K.H. Hartge. 1986. Bulk density, pp. 363– 382. In Klute, A. (Ed.). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1 (2nd ed.). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI. Bradford, J.M. 1986. Penetrability, pp. 463–478. In Klute, A. (Ed.). Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 1 (2nd ed.). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI,. Day, S.D. ,and N.L. Bassuk. 1994. A review of the effects of soil compaction and amelioration treatments on landscape trees. J. Arboric. 20(1):9–17. Dexter, A.R. 1987. Mechanics of root growth. Plant Soil 97(2):401–406. Duval, J.R., F.J. Dainello, V.A. Haby, and D.R. Earhart. 1998. Evaluating leonardite as a crop growth enhancer for turnip and mustard green. HortTechnology 8(4):564–567. Funk, R. 2003. The effect of fertilization source and placement on tree growth, pp. 83–86. In Siewert A., A., Siewert, B. Rao, and D. Marion (Eds.). Tree and Shrub Fertilization: Proceedings from an International Conference. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, IL. Gilman, E.F. 1994. Establishing trees in the landscape, pp. 69–77. In Neely, D., and G.W. Watson (Eds). The Landscape Below Ground: Proceedings of an International Workshop on Tree Root Development in Urban Soils. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, IL. Gilman, E.F., and T.H. Yeager. 2003. Fertilizer rate and type impacts transplanted trees in sandy landscape soils, pp. 87–92. In Siewert A., A., Siewert, B. Rao, and D. Marion (Eds.). Tree and Shrub Fertilization: Proceedings from an International Conference. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, IL. Greenly, K.M., and D.A. Rakow. 1995. The effects of wood mulch type and depth on weed and tree growth and certain soil parameters. J. Arboric. 21:255–232. Harris, R.W, J.R. Clark, and N.P. Matheny. 2004. Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees, Shrubs, and Vines (4th ed.). Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Herms, D.A. 1998. Understanding tree responses to abiotic and biotic stress complexes. Arborist News 7(1):9–15. Kelting, M.P. 1997. Effect of soil amendments and biostimulants on the post-transplant growth of landscape trees. M.S. thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA. Marion, D.F. 2003. Tree fertilization in the 21st century: Where to from here? pp 3–5. In Siewert A., A., Siewert, B. Rao, and D. Marion (Eds.). Tree and Shrub Fertilization: Proceedings from an International Conference. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, IL. Miedema, R., T.H. Pape, and G.J. Van De Wall. 1974. A method to impregnate wet soil samples, producing high quality thin sections. Neth. J. of Agric. Sci. 22:37–39. Miller, R.W. 1998. Tree fertilization: Science, myth and ethics. Arborist News 7(6):25–27. ———. 2003. Practical application: Are we asking the right question and looking in the right places, pp. 15–20. In Siewert A., A., Siewert, B. Rao, and D. Marion (Eds.). Tree and Shrub Fertilization: Proceedings from an International Conference. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, IL. ©2005 International Society of Arboriculture
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