摘要：A short-day (SD) treatment was applied to containerized 1+0 black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) with the objective of increasing root mass and root-plug cohesion. The SD treatment resulted in the induction of bud formation, cessation of height growth, and significant increases in carbohydrate content (sucrose, pinitol, and starch), root nutrient contents, and root dry mass. Allometric models showed that given the same shoot mass, the average seedling grown under the SD treatment had 25 percent more root mass than those in the control treatment, which led to a significant improvement in root-plug cohesion. Seedling quality evaluation before delivery to the planting site showed that 91 percent of 1+0 black spruce seedlings subjected to SD treatments conformed to quality standards compared with 71 percent for those subjected to the control treatment. These results indicate that the use of an SD treatment may improve the profitability of forest nurseries by increasing the quality and quantity of shippable seedlings.
