Open Access

ARTICLE

Effects of Surface Herbs on the Growth of Populus L. Cutting Seedling, Soil Property and Ammonia Volatilization

Chang Liu^1,3, Chengcheng Yin¹, Jinjin Zhang², Haijun Sun^1,3,*

1 Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry and Grassland, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
2 Co-Innovation Center for Industry-Academy-Research, Linyi Vocational University of Science and Technology, Linyi, 276000, China
3 National Positioning Observation and Research Station of Forest Ecosystem in Changjiang River Delta, Nanjing Forestry Univeristy, Nanjing, 210037, China

* Corresponding Author: Haijun Sun. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2025, 94(3), 695-707. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.061790

Received 03 December 2024; Accepted 25 February 2025; Issue published 31 March 2025

Abstract

To promote the growth of cutting seeding of poplar (Populus L.), nitrogen (N) fertilizer and surface weed managements were required. We here conducted a pot experiment to examine the effects of natural vegetation, barnyardgrass (Echinochloa Beauv.), and sesbania (Sesbania cannabina pers.) on the growth of poplar cutting seedlings, soil properties, and ammonia (NH₃) volatilization under three N inputs (0, 0.5, and 1.5 g/pot, i.e., N0, N0.5, and N1, respectively). Results showed that N application promoted the growth of poplar cutting seedlings, including plant height, ground diameter, and biomass, compared with N0 treatment. Moreover, under N0, sesbania significantly increased the plant height by 87.1%, barnyardgrass and sesbania significantly increased the ground diameter (16.2% and 51.5%), and biomass (67.4% and 74.7%) of poplar cutting seedlings, compared with natural vegetation management. Compared to natural vegetation, soil organic matter (SOM) of barnyardgrass and sesbania covered soil significantly increased by 12.4% and 18.7% at N1, respectively. In addition, soil total N (TN) content was significantly increased by 15.8% in barnyardgrass planted at N0. The soil ammonium N (NH₄⁺-N) content decreased with the planting of barnyardgrass and sesbania across all levels of N application. At N0.5, the nitrate N (NO₃⁻-N) content of soil planted with barnyardgrass significantly increased compared to both the natural vegetation and the sesbania groups. Compared to the natural vegetation, the soil available phosphorus (AP) content of the barnyardgrass group significantly increasing by 78.8% at N0.5, soil available potassium (AK) content was significantly reduced by 12.5% in the sesbania group at N0 and increased by 24.1% in the barnyardgrass group at N1. We found that cumulative NH₃ emissions were significantly higher in all treatment groups at the N1 level than that at the N0.5 level, while the differences among the three plants treated were not significant. The results suggest that both barnyardgrass and sesbania promote seedling growth in the short term, while also increase certain properties. Therefore, effective herb management during the seedling stage is recommended in nurseries to support seedling growth and retain soil fertility.

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Keywords

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