Cluster-planting for forest reclamation: more effectively deploying native plants and better emulating regeneration dynamics

场地条件是受干扰工业场地成功的自然森林再生的关键驱动因素。然而，在许多情况下，条件远非最佳，因此需要用苗木苗来补充场地的恢复。我们在木本植物种植方面的知识和最佳实践是建立在森林工业开发的实践基础上的，这些实践优化了用于商品采伐的森林树木的生产力。然而，填海作业和管理标准的重点并不仅仅是生产可销售的木材，而是更多地关注是否建立了一个功能齐全、具有复原力的森林群落。建立一个适应天然森林条件的森林可能会导致更快的场地恢复和未来的恢复能力。这项研究将测试一种替代森林开垦做法的方法，目前的做法是在大片地区均匀种植树苗。这种替代方法被称为集束种植，促进在开垦场地种植树苗簇，目标是集群作为重建森林的核点。在这个项目中，我们将研究集群种植落叶树苗对树木幼苗存活、生长以及幼苗集群内和周围原生植被早期发育的影响。

Site conditions are the key driver for successful natural forest regeneration on disturbed industrial sites. Yet, in many cases, conditions are far from optimal, driving the need to supplement the recovery of sites with nursery stock seedlings. Our knowledge and best practices of woody plant establishment are founded on practices developed in the forest industry that optimize productivity of forest trees intended for merchantable harvest. However, reclamation operations and regulatory criteria are less focused on solely producing merchantable timber and instead focus more on whether a functional, resilient forest community is established. Establishing a forest that is adapted to the conditions found in natural forests may lead to faster site recovery and future resilience. This study will test an alternative approach to forest reclamation practices, which currently consist of planting tree seedlings uniformly across large areas. This alternative method is known as cluster planting, promotes the planting of clusters of tree seedlings across reclamation sites with the objective that the clusters function as nucleation points for the re-establishment of a forest. In this project we will examine the impacts of cluster-planting deciduous tree seedlings on the survival, growth of the planted seedlings as well as early-development of native vegetation within and surrounding tree seedling clusters.