Assisted Revegetation in a Subarctic Environment: Effects of Fertilization on the Performance of Three Indigenous Plant Species

Abstract

Assisted re-vegetation is particularly difficult in subarctic and arctic ecosystems where the impact of anthropogenic activities can be extensive and natural plant regeneration is slow. The construction of a military base in the 1950s at Kuujjuarapik–Whapmagoostui in northern Quebec destroyed most of the vegetation cover. Afterwards, other anthropogenic disturbances linked to the village expansion (housing, ATV traffic, pedestrian trampling) have slowed down the recovery process. To provide residents with low-cost but efficient assisted revegetation techniques, we evaluated the performance (seedling emergence, survival, and biomass production) of three indigenous plant species (Leymus mollis, Lathyrus japonicus, Trisetum spicatum) submitted to different levels of mineral and organic fertilizer additions in both a greenhouse experiment and a field plantation in the village. In the greenhouse experiment, moderate mineral fertilization had positive impacts on seedling emergence and both above ground and below ground biomass of L. mollis. The magnitude of this impact on biomass was greater when mineral fertilization was combined with organic fertilization. The effects of mineral fertilization were negative on the other two species, especially at higher fertilization levels. However, after two growing seasons, a moderate level of mineral fertilizer in the field plantation had positive effects on the cover and above ground biomass of all three species. Overall, organic fertilization from the substrate of a nearby marsh did not enhance plant performance in either experiment. Planting seeds of L. mollis or T. spicatum in combination with a moderate level of mineral fertilization at the time of planting provides a low-cost assisted re-vegetation treatment for subarctic villages.