• Lautenschlager, Richard A.
  College of Forest Resources
  

This experiment was designed to examine competition between planted white spruce (2 + 2 transplants and paper pot seedlings) and natural conifer regeneration, ferns, fireweed, grasses and sedges, hardwood brush, herbs, red raspberry, and shrubs on a somewhat poorly and a well-drained site three growing seasons after planting in north-central Maine. However, conifers, hardwood brush, and red raspberry produced enough cover to allow a comparison of their competitive potential. When present 0.5-1 .5 m above ground and within 0.5 m of a planted stem, conifers, hardwood brush, and red raspberry cover consistently decreased spruce growth. When the cover was equal, the hardwood brush caused greater growth reductions than the red raspberry, but the raspberry cover was more common. Spruce grew better on the well-drained than on the somewhat poorly drained site. Competitive vegetation was much more abundant on the well-drained site, and reduced spruce growth was to a greater degree there than on the somewhat poorly drained site. The smaller paper pot seedlings suffered more from competition and browsing than did the Larger 2 + 2 transplants. Controlling broadleaved competition on the better site increased spruce growth; competition control on the poorer site was less critical, but even there the control of hardwood brush and dense confers increased spruce growth.