Table 1. Temperature (threshold > +5 °C) and rainfall sums during May to September in the study years 2007 to 2011 in Suonenjoki, central Finland (Venäläinen et al 2005).
Suonenjoki Temperature, dd °C Rainfall, mm
2007 1220 372
2008 994 357
2009 1257 225
2010 1427 245
2011 1423 408
1970–2010 1167 297

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration for the treatments of ditch and spot mounding, inverting and untreated control.

Fig. 2

Fig. 2. Schematic graph of the experimental design. For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3 (n refers to the number of planted seedlings).

Fig. 3

Fig. 3. Arithmetic means for the mound heights in the different mounding treatments in Suonenjoki (measured only after the first growing season) and Pieksämäki (n = 15–20). Vertical lines on bars show the range of variation (i.e. max-min). For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3.

Fig. 4

Fig. 4. Example of the mean course of soil water content during the dryish summer of 2010 in Pieksämäki (n = 16). For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3. Date presented as day/month/year.

Table 2. Temperature sums (threshold > +5 °C) for the soil preparation treatments in 2009 (29th April to 30th September) in Suonenjoki and Pieksämäki (one sensor in each treatment). The numbers within brackets indicates the distance in cm from the soil surface. Treatment abbreviations: Ctrl – untreated soil, Inv – inverting, S_low, S_mid – low or mid height spot mounding and D_low – low ditch mounding.
Suonenjoki dd, °C Pieksämäki dd, °C
Air (+15 cm) 1284 Air (+15 cm) 1169
Ctrl (–11 cm) 1062 Ctrl (–12 cm) 807
Inv (–5 cm) 1322 Inv (–6 cm) 1238
S_mid (–5 cm) 1446 S_low (–6 cm) 1282
S_mid (–8 cm) 1463 D_low (–6 cm) 1186
Table 3. Soil water content (vol.%) in the different soil preparation treatments in Suonenjoki and in Pieksämäki. Estimated marginal means denoted by the same letter within years show non-significant differences according to LSD pairwise comparisons at p > 0.05. p-value shows the significance of the difference in means within sites and years (F-test, block means as observations i.e. n = 4). Treatment abbreviations: Ctrl – untreated soil, Inv – inverting, S_low, S_mid, S_high – low, mid or high height spot mounding and D_low, D_mid, D_high – low, mid or high height ditch mounding.
Suonenjoki
Treatment 2007 2008 2009
D_low 20.4 a 17.2 a 21.9 a
D_mid 20.4 a 20.6 b 23.1 ab
D_high 21.1 a 22.4 b 23.7 ab
S_low 23.3 a 22.6 b 24.3 b
S_mid 23.8 a 22.7 b 22.5 a
S_high 22.8 a 22.0 b 23.5 ab
Inv 29.1 b 28.4 c 27.7 c
Ctrl 31.4 b 29.3 c 29.6 c
p <0.0005 <0.0005 <0.0005
Pieksämäki
Treatment 2009 2010 2011
D_low 30.5 ab 27.7 ab 31.3 abc
D_high 28.4 a 24.3 a 27.9 a
S_low 32.2 bcd 28.2 ab 31.7 bc
S_high 30.7 abc 27.4 ab 30.5 ab
Inv 33.0 cd 30.6 bc 32.9 bc
Ctrl 33.3 d 31.8 c 33.4 c
p <0.0005 <0.0005 <0.0005
Table 4. Current-year foliar nutrients of vigorous seedlings in the different soil preparation treatments after the second growing season 2008 in Suonenjoki and 2010 in Pieksämäki. Estimated marginal means denoted by the same letter show non-significant differences according to LSD pairwise comparisons at p > 0.05 (n = 4 within treatments). p-value shows the significance of the difference in means (F-test). For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3.
Treatment N, % P, mg kg–1 Ca, mg kg–1 Al, mg kg–1 Fe, mg kg–1 B mg kg–1
Suonenjoki 2008
D_low 2.5 abc 1990 a 3995 a 116 bc 61 b 6.7 a
D_mid 2.4 ab 1975 a 3500 b 138 ab 82 a 5.0 b
D_high 2.4 ab 1958 ab 3540 b 148 a 82 a 5.0 b
S_low 2.7 cd 1748 d 2778 c 92 c 54 bcd 6.0 ab
S_mid 2.5 ab 1828 cd 2773 c 114 bc 56 bcd 5.3 ab
S_high 2.6 bcd 1840 bcd 2430 d 144 a 49 abc 5.1 b
Inv 2.4 a 1913 abc 2638 cd 157 a 44 bcd 5.7 ab
Herb 2.7 d 1798 d 3370 b 47 d 34 d 6.4 ab
Ctrl 2.5 ab 1815 cd 3295 b 45 d 38 cd 6.4 ab
p 0.007 0.016 <0.0005 <0.0005 0.010 0.078
Pieksämäki 2010
D_low 2.0 abc 1756 ab 4636 ab 119 a 44 a 9.0 ab
D_high 2.1 abc 1794 ab 5043 b 145 a 68 a 6.3 a
S_low 1.9 ab 1742 a 3336 a 105 a 43 a 12.3 b
S_high 2.3 bc 1792 ab 3571 ab 140 a 61 a 9.5 ab
Inv 1.8 ab 1683 a 3351 a 115 a 41 a 8.0 ab
Herb 2.4 c 2084 b 3949 ab 40 b 92 a 9.7 ab
Ctrl 1.8 a 1901 ab 3444 a 32 b 36 a 9.9 ab
p <0.0005 0.012 0.002 <0.0005 0.153 0.023
Table 5. Percentage of seedlings gnawed by pine weevil and voles and heaved by frost in Suonenjoki and Pieksämäki. Arithmetic means denoted by the same letter show non-significant differences within years according to LSD pairwise comparisons at p > 0.05 (n = 4 i.e. block means as observations). p-value shows the significance of the difference in means (F-test). For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3.
Treatment Frost heave Frost heave Vole Pine weevil Pine weevil
Suonenjoki 2008 spring 2009 spring 2009 spring 2007 autumn 2008 autumn
D_low 16.9 ab 19.7 ab 62.0 a 1.1 a 5.3 a
D_mid 18.1 ab 23.3 ab 56.5 ab 0.5 a 6.7 a
D_high 12.5 abc 17.0 abc 52.0 b 0.0 a 7.8 a
S_low 1.8 bcd 3.7 bcd 81.8 d 0.5 a 10.4 a
S_mid 4.8 abd 9.1 abcd 78.8 cd 0.0 a 7.3 a
S_high 2.7 abd 10.9 abcd 77.8 cd 0.0 a 7.9 a
Inv 18.4 a 18.5 a 73.4 a 0.0 a 11.8 a
Herb 0.0 cd 0.0 cd 79.0 cd 37.7 b 15.4 a
Ctrl 0.0 d 0.0 d 72.5 ac 31.0 b 10.4 a
p 0.001 0.001 <0.0005 <0.0005 0.648
Pieksämäki 2010 spring 2011 spring 2009 autumn 2009 autumn 2010 autumn
D_low 4.0 ab 0.8 ab 2.9 a 7.1 a 1.6 abc
D_high 1.7 bc 0.8 ab 0.7 a 2.9 a 2.5 abc
S_low 5.7 ab 2.4 ab 0.0 a 7.9 a 4.8 b
S_high 2.4 abc 1.6 ab 0.0 a 5.0 a 0.0 c
Inv 5.7 a 3.1 a 0.5 a 8.0 a 3.6 abc
Herb 0.0 c 0.0 b 2.8 a 67.2 b 33.4 d
Ctrl 0.1 c 0.0 b 1.6 a 55.6 b 13.0 b
p 0.016 0.206 0.603 <0.0005 0.001
Table 6. Percentage of mortality and vigorous seedlings (class 1 and 2) in different years in Suonenjoki and Pieksämäki. Seedlings that died in previous years are not counted in the values for the current year. Arithmetic means denoted by the same letter show non-significant differences within years according to LSD pairwise comparisons at p > 0.05. p-value shows the significance of the difference in means (F-test). For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3.
Treatment Mortality Vigorous seedlings
Suonenjoki 2007 2008 2009 2010 2007 2008 2009 2010
D_low 0.6 a 0.0 4.1 ab 1.8 a 96.8 a 98.3 a 66.5 ab 82.5 a
D_mid 2.1 a 0.0 2.4 a 1.8 a 97.9 a 98.3 a 70.3 ab 79.0 ab
D_high 0.6 a 0.0 4.1 a 1.3 a 98.9 a 98.3 a 80.3 c 84.0 a
S_low 0.0 a 0.0 4.8 ab 1.3 a 98.9 a 98.8 a 64.0 ab 79.8 a
S_mid 0.0 a 0.0 2.9 a 1.8 a 99.5 a 97.8 a 64.0 ab 70.5 b
S_high 0.0 a 0.0 3.9 3.0 a 99.5 a 100.0 a 66.5 abc 75.5 ab
Inv 1.0 a 0.0 4.9 abc 2.8 a 98.5 a 93.3 a 63.0 b 62.3 c
Herb 19.2 b 0.0 11.6 bc 2.1 a 71.1 b 97.8 a 48.8 a 66.5 bc
Ctrl 27.5 c 0.0 11.1 c 0.8 a 63.9 b 96.5 a 59.3 ab 66.3 bc
p <0.0005 - 0.047 0.781 <0.0005 0.428 0.041 0.037
Pieksämäki 2009 2010 2011   2009 2010 2011  
D_low 1.4 a 0.8 a 0.8 ab   90.8 a 89.4 ab 95.9 ab  
D_high 0.7 a 2.5 a 0.0 a   95.0 a 92.7 ab 96.7 a  
S_low 0.7 a 4.8 a 0.8 a   97.8 a 89.4 bc 96.0 abc  
S_high 0.7 a 0.0 a 0.0 a   99.3 a 97.6 a 98.4 ab  
Inv 0.5 a 2.1 a 0.5 a   89.6 a 81.4 bc 84.8 bcd  
Herb 13.3 b 20.1 b 2.6 ab   64.5 b 48.4 d 74.0 d  
Ctrl 8.5 b 7.2 a 6.3 b   75.9 b 71.3 cd 85.3 cd  
p 0.002 0.010 0.065   <0.0005 <0.0005 0.009  
Table 7. Seedling height (cm) development in the different soil preparation treatments in Suonenjoki and in Pieksämäki. Estimated marginal means denoted by the same letter show non-significant differences according to LSD pairwise comparisons at p > 0.05. p-value shows the significance of the difference in means (F-test). In each treatment within each of the four blocks initial n = 47 in Suonenjoki and = 35 or 53 in Pieksämäki. Pairwise comparisons for the mainplot treatments (D, S, Inv, Herb, Ctrl) are deriving from contrast tests. For treatment abbreviations, see text or legend for Table 3.
Treatment 2007 Planting 2007 2008 2009 2010
Suonenjoki
D_low 23.4 a 27.2 a 40.8 abc 47.1 ab 67.8 abc
D_mid 23.2 a 27.7 abc 40.0 ab 46.3 b 67.5 abc
D_high 22.9 a 27.6 ab 39.8 a 49.4 a 70.7 a
S_low 22.9 a 28.4 bcd 43.0 c 45.5 ab 66.5 ab
S_mid 22.8 a 28.7 de 42.2 bc 42.9 b 61.7 c
S_high 22.7 a 28.9 de 42.5 c 45.1 ab 64.5 abc
Inv 22.5 a 29.6 e 41.0 abc 44.1 ab 60.2 c
Herb 22.7 a 28.5 cd 42.2 abc 43.4 ab 61.6 c
Ctrl 22.7 a 28.8 d 42.2 abc 44.0 ab 60.9 c
p 0.712 0.003 0.083 0.278 0.138
D 23.2 a 27.5 a 40.2 a 47.6 a 68.6 a
S 22.8 a 28.7 b 42.6 b 44.5 a 64.2 ab
Inv 22.5 a 29.6 c 41.0 ab 44.1 a 60.2 b
Herb 22.7 a 28.5 b 42.2 ab 43.4 a 61.6 ab
Ctrl 22.7 a 28.8 b 42.2 ab 44.0 a 60.9 ab
p 0.633 0.002 0.065 0.628 0.285
Pieksämäki 2009 Planting 2009 2010 2011  
D_low 19.6 ab 24.6 ab 33.3 ab 50.2 ab  
D_high 19.7 ab 24.9 ab 34.3 ab 51.5 a  
S_low 20.1 a 25.4 a 34.5 ab 49.2 abc  
S_high 19.9 ab 24.7 ab 35.3 a 51.5 a  
Inv 19.3 b 25.4 a 34.1 ab 47.4 b  
Herb 20.0 ab 22.8 c 31.8 b 45.7 c  
Ctrl 19.9 a 24.1 b 32.8 b 48.2 b  
p 0.32 0.001 0.070 0.057
D 19.6 ab 24.7 ab 33.8 ab 50.8 a  
S 20.0 a 25.1 b 34.9 b 50.4 a  
Inv 19.3 b 25.4 b 34.1 ab 47.4 ab  
Herb 20.0 ab 22.8 c 31.8 a 45.7 b  
Ctrl 19.9 a 24.1 a 32.8 a 48.2 ab  
p 0.181 0.001 0.039 0.047