Site Specificity trial series (FR559) in Pinus radiata stands in New Zealand: Trial establishment, site description and initial data

TL;DR

This study establishes a dataset to evaluate how nursery practices and site conditions affect the early performance of Pinus radiata seedlings in New Zealand forests.

Contribution

The paper introduces a comprehensive dataset from 46 trials to assess interactions between nursery protocols and site-specific factors in planted forests.

Findings

Three nursery treatment combinations outperformed standard practice in seedling growth metrics.

The dataset spans diverse climatic, topographic, and soil conditions across New Zealand.

The data provide a foundation for analyzing interactions between nursery management and site conditions.

Abstract

There is uncertainty over whether standardised bare-root tree nursery practices support optimal Pinus radiata seedling performance across the diverse site conditions of New Zealand’s planted forests. This article presents a dataset describing trial establishment, site characteristics, and initial soil conditions for the Site Specificity trial series (FR559), comprising 46 out-planting trials distributed across New Zealand’s planted forests. The trials were designed to evaluate how nursery production protocols interact with variation in site and soil properties to influence early seedling performance. Approximately 240,000 P. radiata seedlings were grown in a commercial nursery trial testing six fertiliser and six fungicide treatment combinations. Based on gains in growth metrics relative to standard practice, stock from three treatment combinations that outperformed standard practice were selected for post-nursery assessment alongside the standard practice. Seedlings from these treatments were planted into experimental plots at each of the 46 sites, which span a wide range of climatic, topographic, and edaphic conditions. The dataset includes site locations, trial design, and detailed soil physical and chemical properties measured at the time of establishment. These data provide a foundation for analysing interactions between nursery management, site conditions, and early tree health and performance. The breadth of sites represented enables assessment of site-specific responses, supports the development of experimental gradients in key environmental drivers, and provides a framework for future studies addressing site limitations to forest productivity. Overall, this dataset supports efforts to improve nursery production and establishment practices for enhancing early tree performance and resilience in New Zealand’s planted forests.

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