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The IFTNC members decided that the following were the top two priority areas
for the next 5-year phase:
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Forest productivity and ecosystem functioning, particularly forest
nutrition and forest health relationships.
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Development of operational guidelines and best management practices for
forest fertilization.
Preliminary evidence
supports the premise that forest nutrition, nutrient cycling and
nutrient management are critical factors for the health of the Inland
Northwestern forests and for management of the ecosystems.
Recent results from the IFTNC suggest that inadequate tree
nutrition, particularly potassium shortage, influences tree
chemistry such that low levels of plant defensive compounds are
produced. Strong associations have been recently demonstrated between forests with severe forest health
problems and low potassium bedrocks on which they are growing.
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Typical response of tree
infected by
Armillaria root rot organism
photo by
Mariann Garrison-Johnston
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