Effects of Container Type on Growth and Biomass of Nursery-grown Species Useful for Reforestation Species in Burkina Faso, West Africa

Abstract

Reforestation success depends heavily on the quality of transplanted seedlings. Seedling quality can be influenced by the nursery containers in which they are grown. The study assessed the effect of three container types (soil block, plastic bag containers and palm leaf basket containers) in two sizes (small and medium formats) on the in-nursery height and diameter growth, biomass (above- and below-ground) and survival over six months of four woody species (Adansonia digitata, Leucaena leucocephala, Tamarindus indica and Sclerocarya birrea) useful for reforestation in semi-arid ecosystems. The study was conducted at the experimental nursery of the Saria Research Station, Burkina Faso. The results showed that the container types significantly influenced the growth in diameter and height as well as the accumulation of biomass (P<0.001) of the studied plants. Medium-sized palm leaf basket containers (MPL) and medium-sized plastic bag containers (MPB) yielded the highest growth and biomass performance in all species. The MPL containers yielded maximum heights of 155.02±45.03 cm for L. leucocephala and 73.45±27.33 cm for S. birrea, and maximum diameters of 8.29±3.39 mm for L. leucocephala. The MPB containers induced diameters reaching 9.67±2.50 mm in A. digitata. A root biomass of 4.76±3.20 g was recorded in T. indica when grown in MPL containers. These results indicate that, regardless of the type of container, the use of a medium-sized container promotes optimal root development and increased growth of nursery-grown plants. These observations support the adoption of large biodegradable containers to improve the quality of replanted tree seedlings. This has potential to enhance outcomes of reforestation efforts, for the sustainable restoration of degraded land in semi-arid ecosystems. However, it will be important to assess the effect of these different containers on the survival and growth of these woody species after field (reforestation) transplanting to draw clearer conclusions about field performance.