192 Fini et al.: Effect of Mulching with Compost Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2016. 42(3): 192–200 Effect of Mulching with Compost on Growth and Physiology of Ulmus ‘FL634’ Planted in an Urban Park Alessio Fini, Ciro Degl’Innocenti, and Francesco Ferrini Abstract. The effects of mixed compost as mulching material on growth and physiology of newly planted elm trees were evaluated over a three-year period aſter planting in an urban park. Trees mulched with compost generally had greater height (+10% and +19% for 5 cm layer and 10 cm layer treatments, respectively, if compared to control), trunk diameter (+13% and +29%), and current-year shoot growth (+46% and +56%). Limited effects were found with regard to carbon assimilation when considered on a per unit-leaf-area basis (-0.1% and +0.3%), but whole tree carbon assimilation increased in mulched trees (+7% and +59% for 5 cm and 10 cm treatments, respectively, if compared to control) because of the larger total tree leaf area of mulched plants. Mulching also increased chlorophyll content (+4% and +7% for 5 cm and 10 cm treatments, respectively). The results obtained in this study show how mulching with compost increased growth, carbon storage, and improved water use efficiency of trees planted in an urban environment characterized by hot dry summers. Key Words. Carbon Assimilation; Chlorophyll; Elm; Florence; Italy; Mediterranean Climate; Mulch; Photosynthesis; Ulmus; Water Use Efficiency. Mulching is a widely used technique in the United States and in Northern European countries thanks to its beneficial effects, such as improved early growth of trees, increased root development, reduction in soil summer temperature, greater water availability, maintenance of good soil structure and porosity, and limitation of soil erosion caused by stormwater (Chalker-Scott 2007). Organic mulches (e.g., shred- ded wood, chipped wood, pine bark, and compos- ted materials) are of particular interest because of their positive effects on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties (Fraedrich and Ham 1982; Lit- zow and Pellett 1983; Watson 1988; Appleton et al. 1990; Himelick and Watson 1990; Smith and Rakow 1992; Lloyd et al. 2000; Tiquia et al. 2002; Dahiya et al. 2007; Ferrini et al. 2008a), resulting in enhanced plant growth and leaf gas exchange in most mulch- ing experiments (Watson 1988; Green and Watson 1989; Appleton et al. 1990; Himelick and Watson 1990; Ferrini et al. 2008b; Fini and Ferrini 2011; Scharenbroch and Watson 2014). Mulching with organic materials was shown to mitigate tempera- ture in the underlying soil (Iles and Dosmann 1999; ©2016 International Society of Arboriculture Ferrini et al. 2008a; Fini and Ferrini 2011), which may be critical for root growth in Mediterranean climates, where summer soil temperature oſten ex- ceeds 32°C–35°C, the threshold limit for root growth (Graves 1998). Organic mulching was also shown to increase soil moisture (Kraus 1998; Lakatos et al. 2000; Ferrini et al. 2008a; Scharenbroch and Watson 2014) more oſten than decreasing it (Gilman and Grabosky 2004), to increase soil total organic carbon and mineral nutrient availability while reducing soil bulk density (Ferrini et al. 2008a; Scharenbroch and Watson 2014), and to trigger soil biological activ- ity through the enhancement of soil microbiota and invertebrates (Tiquia et al. 2002; Jordan and Jones 2007). However, results from mulching can be vari- able depending on climatic and soil conditions, on tree species, on the physico-chemical characteristics of the material used as mulch, and on how mulches are distributed on the soil (Whitcomb 1979; Dureya et al. 1999; Iles and Dosmann 1999; Townsend et al. 2003; Arnold et al. 2005). For example, adding too much fine-textured material (e.g., more than 25 cm) can adversely affect soil oxygen content and water
May 2016
| Title Name |
Pages |
Delete |
Url |
| Empty |
Ai generated response may be inaccurate.
Search Text Block
Page #page_num
#doc_title
Hi $receivername|$receiveremail,
$sendername|$senderemail wrote these comments for you:
$message
$sendername|$senderemail would like for you to view the following digital edition.
Please click on the page below to be directed to the digital edition:
$thumbnail$pagenum
$link$pagenum
Your form submission was a success.
Downloading PDF
Generating your PDF, please wait...
This process might take longer please wait
