Webinar 44 | Root grafting in balsam fir

Presenter: Annie DesRochers, Chairholder,  Chaire industrielle CRSNG en sylviculture et production de bois, UQAT

Abstract: Trees in the boreal forest are intimately linked by natural root grafts (anastomosis). The purpose of this study was to determine, for the first time, the frequency of root grafts in balsam fir, a species that can grow for several years in understories in very dense stands. We then sought to understand whether being connected to its neighbors allowed the trees to benefit and to be better competitors under difficult growing conditions. We demonstrated that anastomoses between balsam fir trees are very frequent and that they do not necessarily help trees to help each other, forcing us to revise our conception of forest dynamics.