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

在受干扰的工业场地上，立地条件是天然森林成功更新的关键驱动因素。然而，在许多情况下，条件远远不是最优的，这促使需要用苗木苗木补充恢复地点的需求。我们关于木本植物建立的知识和最佳实践建立在林业行业发展的实践基础上，这些实践优化了旨在实现适销对路收获的林木的生产力。然而，填海作业和监管标准较少侧重于仅生产可销售的木材，而更多地侧重于是否建立了一个实用的、有弹性的森林社区。建立一种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复原力。这项研究将测试森林开垦实践的替代方法，目前的方法包括在大片地区均匀种植树苗。这种替代方法被称为丛植，促进在复垦地点种植树苗丛生，目的是使丛生树苗成为重建森林的成核点。在这个项目中，我们将研究落叶树苗丛植对苗木存活、生长以及树苗簇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.