A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF HERBICIDE APPLICATION ON SCOTS PINE FOREST PLANTATIONS

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the degree of influence of herbicides on Scots pine seedlings and weeds in forest crops. In the experimental plot, the projective cover of weeds was quite high, ranging from 45 to 65%. After the application of the herbicides Tornado and Leopard, the projective cover of weeds fluctuated from 0 to 1%, with almost complete weed mortality. Immediately after spraying the plot with herbicides, a burn of the lower branches of Scots pine seedlings was observed. According to the final observations, the burn of the branches of the seedlings almost disappeared in the experimental plot treated with Tornado, whereas in the plots treated with Leopard, more than half of the plants (55.3%) exhibited a "doubtful" condition. The survival rate of forest crops was slightly higher when using Tornado (86.0%) compared to the control (85.4%), while in the experiment with Leopard spraying, it was 65.7%. In the experiment with Tornado, the height of plants increased by 9.6%, compared to 6.5% in the control seedlings. The use of Leopard weakened the growth of Scots pine seedlings, with height increase of only 5.2% compared to 11.0% in the control. Consequently, the use of Tornado demonstrated a positive effect on weed reduction and increased the growth of Scots pine seedlings.