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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #191947
Title: ROOT ELONGATION OF BLACK WILLOW STAKES IN RESPONSE TO CUTTING SIZE AND SOIL MOISTURE REGIME (TENNESSEE).

Author
item GREER, EMILY - UNIV. OF MEMPHIS
item PEZESHKI, S. R. - UNIV. OF MEMPHIS
item Shields Jr, Fletcher

Submitted to: Ecological Restoration
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/26/2006
Publication Date: 9/1/2006
Citation: Greer, E., Pezeshki, S., Shields Jr, F.D. 2006. Root elongation of black willow stakes in response to cutting size and soil moisture regime (tennessee).. Ecological Restoration 24(3): 195-197.

Interpretive Summary: Willow trees, which root from cuttings, are often planted to stabilize eroding streambanks, but little is known regarding techniques to improve planting performance, which is often poor. Willow cuttings with basal diameters measuring 1 cm, 5 cm, or 10 cm were grown in a greenhouse under three soil moisture regimes including well-watered, periodic flooding and drought. Larger diameter (10 cm) cuttings produced significantly greater amounts of root biomass and longer roots than 1 cm diameter cuttings, especially under harsh environmental conditions. These findings will be useful to anyone planning and designing streambank stabilization projects involving planting willow cuttings.

Technical Abstract: Woody plants such as black willow are often used for riparian zone erosion control and restoration because they may be established from cuttings. Rapid root development is important for bank stabilization and plant survival. Restoration handbooks advocate use of a wide range of willow cutting sizes, but give no guidance for selecting one size over another. Non-dormant black willow cuttings, 1 m in length with diameters of 1, 5, or 10 cm were planted in 15 cm diameter pots in a greenhouse. Equal numbers of cuttings of each diameter were subjected to each of three soil moisture regimes: partially flooded, drought, or a well-watered, well-drained control treatment. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to test for differences in root production based on cutting size and moisture regime. Larger diameter (10 cm) cuttings produced significantly greater amounts of root biomass and longer roots than 1 cm diameter cuttings. Smaller cuttings tended to concentrate more root biomass near the soil surface (< 30 cm deep) than larger cuttings, which had 66% of root biomass in the region 30-45 cm below the surface. Larger diameter cuttings appear to be a better choice for most streambank stabilization projects, but workers may wish to consider planting a variety of stake diameters to take advantage of the relative strengths of each size.